The Silent Force
by Lucesco
Summary: Videl has been captured by the Saiyans, who fight a bitter war with the Earthlings. She is kept as a prisoner of war at Vegeta's court and guarded by a mysterious man known as the Praetorian. As dark romance blossoms, a silent force lingers.. Gohan/Videl
1. Prologue: Oculi de Nocte

**A/N: My first attempt at a something that should pass as mystery. **

**Summary: **

For centuries, there has been war between Earth and planet Vegeta. Princess Videl is sick of the golden cage she has been living in as a result to assaults on her life. She dresses as a man and secretly joins the army of her father, the king of Earth. For many months, she's able to keep her identity a secret, but then her division falls...at the hands of the Saiyans. She's unmasked, abducted and taken to planet Vegeta, where she remains a prisoner of war for many months under the ever watchful eye of the enemy King Vegeta and his guards. But during the night, she is guarded by a presence in the darkness, a shadow in the corners of her room. He's watching her every movement, ready to strike when she escapes...The story of the Ivory Lady and the Praetorian.

* * *

**Prologue  
**

She cocked her head towards the darkness on the other side of her room.

_There he was again_

She saw the twinkling of his eyes, she heard his breath, she felt his presence.

_There, in that corner_

He looked at her imprudently from his place amidst the shadows, like he did every night. Those prying eyes, going over her body as if examining her, and sometimes she heard him growl, growl like a lion or a tiger...a growl of desire.

Who the hell he was? She had no idea. She had never seen him. She often walked towards the shadows and she stretched out her hands to blindly make her way, but she never touched him with her hands. They searched the walls, the air, the ground, but her hands never found a body. But he found her amidst the darkness of the night. She felt the hot breath on her skin, the rough lips on her shoulder and the husk whispers in her ear. Sometimes his hands touched her arm and he caressed her ivory skin. She'd close her eyes and let him be, completely hypnotized by the sweetness of his touch, the warmth of him all around her and the echo of his whispers. Those moments were the only times she didn't feel alone in that cold and uninviting castle.

And in the morning she would wake in her own bed, under the soft, silk sheets, with the veil lying on the floor.

Because no matter how good he knew her, she insisted that he never saw her face. So every night, she wore a white veil that covered her face. It was a custom on Earth; no mortal, except the King and her husband (which she fortunately never had) could see her face. During the day she wore white make-up, and during the night she wore the veil. She was the Ivory Lady of Earth, and she'd remain that until her death. Not a single imprisonment could ever change that.

But he had seen her face. He wasn't the King and - hell no – he wasn't her husband, but he had witnessed the beauty no mortal was allowed to see. Every night, he took the veil and pulled it gently from her head and he beheld her sweet face.

He never let her see his face though. Maybe he was scarred or deformed, or maybe he saw the possible dangers of showing himself.

She wanted to see him though. By whom was she touched and caressed? Who comforted her with his presence, his never wavering presence? Who whispered words in her ears?

What he whispered?

_Princess…_

_I'm here…_

_Where there is darkness, there I am…I will never leave you, whether you like it or not…_

_I will protect you…even from yourself_

_There's no escape, for where you are, I shall be…and I'll be watching you, and kill all those who harm you_

_Will you accept me?_

_Or reject me?_

_It doesn't matter…for where you are, I shall be_

_And not even death can change that_

True, he could be quite scary sometimes. Like lingering in the darkness, making sudden sounds while she tried to sleep…or breathing in a way, that she didn't know for sure if she heard him or not. Then she would yell at him, tell him to shut up and then he would chuckle. But he knew when he went to far, and eventually he allowed her to sleep.

And then she slept.

And she even felt him there.

When she slept, he grew bold. When she slept, he came out of the shadows, in the moonlight and had she been awake she could see him clearly.

But she never woke, because he always made sure she was in a deep slumber. And then he lay next to her, on the silk sheets and with his hand supporting his head, he watched her until she woke up.

How she knew this?

He told her.

_I was with you last night_

_I lay on your silk sheets…didn't you see the ripples on the fabric?_

_I lay next to you_

_And I watched you_

_You are sweet when you sleep…you smile when you have a nice dream_

_You don't mind, do you?_

No, she didn't. She even invited him in her bed one time, when she was lonely and desperate and needed the security of strong arms around her body. He refused, though. Said it was too dangerous. She might get more than she had bargained for.

He never tried something with her. Never has something happened between them…thank goodness. How could she ever let a man that she didn't even know have his way with her? Never, and she blessed the gods for still being safe from such fate. Because he was strong…he had to be if he could protect her…he could take her if he wanted to…

He wanted it, that she knew for sure. She could feel the heat in the room when she walked about the room in a silk robe and she felt him tense up when she purposely swayed her hips.

_Why are you torturing me?_

_Can't you see what you're doing to me?_

_I want you, Princess…_

…_and you're teasing me with this_

In that case, he was a gentleman for not trying anything.

But that didn't take away all the moments they shared in the darkness.

He lured her to him and she constantly sought for him in the shadows of her room. And when she was surrounded by darkness, he was everywhere.

Kissing her on the ivory skin of her neck, inhaling the scent of her long, raven hair, touching her rosy lips with his fingers, pushing away the strap of her nightgown and breathing against her skin, touching her stomach.

Such a turn-on.

And when they both wanted more…

…he stopped…

…for she was the Ivory Lady of Earth…

…and he the Praetorian in the darkness.

* * *


	2. Undis Aquae Lacrimo

* * *

Chapter One:

Undis Aquae Lacrimo

She often wondered how it came to this. How did she get into this mess? She had a good life…so why ruin it?

Videl was the daughter of Hercule, the King of Earth, which, of course, made her the Earth's Princess. Its only princess and the only heir to her father's throne.

From the day she was born she was kept in her father's castle and she would be cut off from the rest of the world for her entire life. She was of too much value to be shown off in public, since she was the only heir. Because she was the only child of Hercule she automatically became one of the main targets of Saiyan assassins, except for the King himself of course. That is why the King thought it was best for her to not be displayed in public…to protect her.

She was taught the protocol of being a princess. She learned how to talk, walk, dress and act like a Princess. She learned to be polite, interested, friendly, poised and respectful toward people, though she hardly had interaction with anyone outside of the castle. She learned how to tie her hair in an elegant bun, how to dress her into her kimono's, she learned how to paint her face with the white make-up and to draw her own eyebrows. She was taught that you should always sit with your knees together and with your hands on your lap, with a strait back and your chin up in the air.

She drank her tea with small sips and with her pink stretched.

She covered her face with a fan to hide her yawns.

She never sat when she wore a corset.

And this was how her life looked like for seventeen years.

She killed the time by reading…

Oh, yes…she had read a lot in her life. Reading was her only escape from the life at court. Reading was her only outlet, her only passageway to the real world…the one outside the castle walls. Through reading, she learned about the population that peopled her home planet. She learned about their customs and their opinions and views, which were integrated into the stories in the books. She had found out when she was young that the general thought of the population and the stories in the books were entwined like two threads. What the people thought in certain ages was reflected on the timeline of literature. Three centuries ago, for example, honour had been a very important aspect in the life of the ordinary man, and considering that honour was very dominantly present in the books of those times. A century later, however, reason and individual fortune became more important than honour, and even later, the human psyche was quite popular.

But she didn't read only novels. She read everything about anything. History, math, biology, astronomy, economy…anything.

_You know much, princess…_

_But knowledge is not wisdom_

She knew the Praetorian was right. She was not wise, but book smart. She had practically no life experience, because she had been locked away from the world. Until recently, she didn't know how life looked like, and what really mattered. She only knew life in books.

She did have other occupations around the castle though. She was a talented painter, a very gifted singer and an exceptional dancer. He father had hired masters in these professions and they tutored her on a daily basis. And she became quite good.

After all, anyone with so much time to kill as she had could be good.

And thus she painted imaginary landscapes, she sung in languages she didn't even speak and she danced dances she never saw.

But the thing she really looked forward to were the martial arts trainings.

When she was a little girl of 4 or 5 years old, she saw the guards train in their spare time in the huge castle garden. She found herself being mesmerized by their movements. They punched, kicked, drew their swords, blocked…but they always remained respectful towards their opponent. Never attacking them in the back, or in the rather…sensitive areas, always bowing prior and after their spar. It had been some sort of dance, a dance of pure harmony and concentration, being one with nature and opponent. It was the most beautiful thing she ever saw.

So she begged her father to hire martial artists to teach her how to fight like those guards in the garden. The king refused of course. She could get hurt unnecessarily and nobody wanted poor, little Videl to be in pain. But the young princess was an obstinate little devil and she kept on whining until she got what she wanted. That was the advantage of being a daddy's girl…always getting anything the way you liked it and wanted it.

Since the day her father gave his consent (under the cloak of "your mother would have let you…"), she was trained by the best fighters in the world. She learned everything there was to learn, and she practiced her movements diligently. And when she was at the point she could defeat her own master in a head-to-head match, she moved on to the next. She figured she has had over a dozen masters in her seventeen years of existence.

And so, her days passed slowly with reading, painting, singing, dancing and practicing her martial arts, and, how could she forget, school. Home-school, that is…private lessons from her mentor Esebur. It was not really a regular school…after all, she was self-taught mostly. Ever since he showed her how to read and write, he encouraged her to read as much as she could and thus she learned every subject by herself…through her own reading. So instead of having subjects like history, economy, math etc., Esebur taught her everything she needed to know when she would eventually success her father. He taught her how their political system worked, how to reason like an orator, how to speak like a leader…everything for leadership.

She would be queen, after all.

But neither her hobbies nor her school nor Esebur could ever distract her from the terrible and empty feeling of loneliness. Her father was usually nowhere to be found, her mother was dead, she didn't have any brothers or sisters and she didn't have any friends, except for a few maids, who had to work all the time anyway. Her only company was an old cat, Conall, which was as old as Videl was. He probably didn't even live any more, while Videl thought about him now.

"_Why the sad expression on your face, Princess?"_ His low, hypnotizing voice asked from the other side of the room. _"You are so much prettier with a smile gracing it…" _

Videl let out a grim chuckle as she rose from her bed and walked over to the large two-door entrance that led to her balcony. She leaned against the doorpost as the navy-blue, transparent curtains swished in the cool air of the night.

"How do you know? You never see me smile…" She grumbled with her arms crossed. She looked at the dark sky. It was starred with so many twinkling dots; she longingly wondered if any of those stars was Earth.

"_I do see you smile…When you don't think I'm watching." _The praetorian said with a tone that was so evidently amused that Videl rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"And when would that be?" She could not suppress her irritation, nor did she try to.

"_When you spray that sweet perfume all over you…when you see your bun is perfectly peach-shaped…when you feel the precious silk on your skin…"_

Ah, he was right…she did love that.

"_When you whisper a name in your sleep…Conall, Conall…"_

This made Videl whip round with a start, the transparent, white veil on her head almost falling off. She gazed at the darkness in front of her and she searched for him while the veil blurred her vision.

"You hear that?" She asked him incredulously. A low chuckle echoed through the room, sending chills down her spine.

"_You know I hear everything."_

"Well, you shouldn't listen. Why do you always have to watch every thing I do and hear every word I say…even in my sleep I'm not safe from your eyes and ears." She shouted towards the darkness.

"_What? Does it make you feel…afraid, Princess?" _

"No, just uncomfortable."

"_Sorry, it's my job…"_

"Oh yeah…well you seem to take an awful lot of liking in it."

Ugh, he could be insufferable some times. Like now. In an act of desperation, she threw her arms in the air and she made her way to the door. She was about to push the handle down when she found out…she couldn't.

Of course…the door was locked every night to prevent her from escaping. Not that the praetorian wouldn't seize her when she tried to, but still...the king thought it would be necessary. She whirled her head towards the balcony door again and she calculated her chances. She could just leap from the balcony and…and what? Escape while she fell the 100 feet distance to the ground? No, impossible, and besides, the praetorian would stop her in her tracks.

Why was everything so hopeless?

She leaned against the door and quailed as she closed her eyes with a defeated sigh. They both remained silent for a while, as Videl cursed herself for being so stupid to leave Earth in the first place.

'I was safe there…why did I leave?' That thought kept running through her head as she felt her eyes sting with warm tears, formed by her despair and longing for the place she had called home. And all of a sudden, he broke the silence.

"_So, who is this Conall?" _His tone was cold and uncaring, and it was definitely not what Videl wanted or needed right now.

Slowly, the thick tears rolled down her cheeks and she clenched her hands into fists.

He was so…

He was such a…

He was a bastard.

Nothing more than a bastard.

"It was my cat, you stupid moron!" She yelled while she let her tears go, not caring if he saw them or not. Probably not, the stupid veil covered her face of course.

He didn't reply, and she didn't want to hear him say anything back anyway. With her back against the door, she slowly let herself slide to the ground and she buried her face in her bent knees. She let out small, muffled sobs, and she cried like that for the next few minutes…until he again broke the silence.

"_Princess…" _He said softly, and Videl, startled by the tenderness in the voice, turned her wide-eyed gaze towards the black darkness.

"_Come here…" _he said. _"Come into the darkness…"_

Videl obeyed without reluctance and she found herself walking towards the darkness of her room and entering it without any doubt crossing her mind. She couldn't see anything and she listened to his movements around her. In the darkness, she could feel his presence so much better. As if she gained a sixth sense when she lost her sight.

He came closer and she heard his rapid breathing now. He was standing right in front of her. Gently, he pulled the thin veil from her head and he let it fall down unto the ground and he took her teary face in his hands. He wiped away the tears on her cheeks and around her eyes and she felt his gaze on her. She always wondered how he could see her in so much darkness and she wished that she was gifted with such excellent sight too.

She felt a rough pair of lips on her cheek and she closed her eyes to concentrate more on his touch. This feeling of him touching her was so much more intense when she closed her eyes.

He planted more kisses on her face, but he carefully avoided the forbidden area of her lips.

And so he went on...

And on…

Kissing her and soothing her…

"_I'm sorry, Princess…"_

He slowly walked around her and encircled her waist from behind, while he dug his face into the crook of her neck. The think locks on his head tickled her face. She could tell he had short, spiky hair.

"For what?" She asked in a whisper.

She felt the grasp around her waist tighten, and his face left her neck to reach her ear.

"_For limiting your freedom like I do." _He whispered huskily.

Why did he always know what to say…?

* * *


	3. In Memoriam Semper

* * *

Chapter two:

In Memoriam Semper

"_Line up, LINE UP, you bunch of useless, pathetic nitwits! LINE UP!!"_

_The newest addition of the army swiftly lined up in front of the man who would be their captain for the many upcoming years of their lives. With feigned frowns plastered on their faces, they stood next to each other in messy rows, desperately trying to stand straight and motionless in the freezing coldness of the afternoon, while the captain walked slowly across each and every man in the rows. _

_Sometimes he nodded approvingly at the sight of a young, strong man, sometimes he grunted when he saw a short, chubby soldier but mostly he just looked at them with a fierce glare, demanding their respect with one look of his eyes. And if he didn't demand their respect with his eyes, he surely did with his powerful posture. The captain was a tall, muscular man who could probably beat every single one of the new soldiers to pulp if he wanted to. The iron of his coat of mail rattled with each step he took, his leather boots collided potently with the frozen earth and his brown cloak swished vehemently by the sharp, icy gust of the winter wind and his long sword occasionally clashed against his armored thigh. It was an impressive sight indeed, and the captain knew it all too well. _

_But suddenly, when he reached the middle of the row, the captain stopped in front of a perfectly motionless and straight-standing soldier. The fact that he stood correctly as the only one in his row was startling, but the appearance of the man was also quite unusual. Under the hood of his cloak, he wore a white kerchief that covered almost his entire face, accept for the area of his clear blue eyes that he meticulously kept bare. _

_The captain surveyed him with a raised eyebrow and he noticed there was more unusual about this soldier. He was remarkably short… shorter than any man in his row. And though he wore his armor, the captain could also see that he was a very scrawny man. A young man, doubtlessly. Perhaps even a teenager that was not fully-grown yet. Damn! The captain sighed; why did they always saddle him with little teenage boys who just crawled from their mother's lap. The commanders must have a wicked sense of humor._

"_Hood… Kerchief… Off… Now…" The captain barked crisply, causing the strange soldier to slightly jump up. When the blue eyes met the captain's grey orbs, the owner of the latter eyes saw a flash of panic in the crystal clear eyes of the boy and his assumption was confirmed; another momma's boy who could hardly carry a sword, let alone lashing it towards an opponent. What the hell did the commanders think he was, a nanny?_

_But to his surprise, the boy opened his mouth and he spoke for the first time in a rasp but high voice._

"_With all due respect, sir, but I can't…" He uttered the words insecurely as many soldiers in the row now aimed their shocked gaze at the short and hooded boy. He certainly didn't make a good first impression…_

"_What?" The captain asked menacingly as he moved his head closer to the boy._

"_I can't, sir." He repeated._

"_And why's that?"_

_The boy looked down and seemed to look for words on the ground. After a while he spoke again, this time even softer than before so that not everybody could hear him. _

"_I have a disease, sir. A bacteria that's, uh… slowly eating my face. It's very contagious. The doctors told me my face can't be exposed to anyone, for the danger of infection."_

_The suspicious captain looked at the young soldier for a while, trying to read the truth from his face. But when the boy looked at him with pleading eyes, he snorted grumpily and he walked on with big steps. After all, why would someone look at him with such a desperate look in one's eyes if he didn't speak the truth? He would let the boy cover his face, he didn't want a nasty bacteria that could eat his face away. _

_After he scoured across all the rows he turned around to the soldiers and held the speech he always gave to the newest addition._

"_Alright, you bunch of no-good weaklings… I'd like to say that you are already heroes by coming up here. I'd like to say that it takes great courage to make the step and fight for your country. I'd like to say I honour this courage and that from this moment on, I will hold you as my equal. But that would be big bull shit, coming straight from the unfortunate oracle's mouth. Perhaps that's how it works in politics, but it ain't work that way in here. You are nothing but a sorry excuse for a man. You want to change that? You want my respect? Fine, then put your ass to work. Devote yourself to your training, obey my every order, and fight as if your life's depending on it. You have come here to 'defend the homeland'… then take your oaths now! But mind you, soon you will have to fulfill them. And you had better be ready when that time comes!"_

* * *

She was woken up by the blinding sunlight that invaded her room and caressed her skin, kissing her awake. She slowly opened her eyes but closed them immediately when the rays of light reached her orbs. With a grunt, she eventually pushed the sheets aside and rose her head from the pillows. She hurled her legs over edge of her queen-sized bed and letting her feet dangle just above the carpeted floor she let out a long yawn. She saw that she was, again, not wearing the veil. 'Must have been the Praetorian… of course', she thought as another yawn escaped her mouth.

With puffy eyes and a sleepy mind she thought about the dream she just had. It had been another flashback, this time about her in the training camp. She couldn't remember much of the dream, but one thing kept on jumping into her mind.

"Eating my face… Can't believe he fell for that." She muttered as she slowly rose from her bed and made her way to the bathroom in small, sauntering steps. As she strolled forward she turned her head to the side of the room _he_ always hid. The darkness had disappeared entirely and having no place to hide, he was gone, like every morning when she woke up. A small smile crept on her face as she thought she finally had her privacy… at least for a short while, the maids of the King would come to her room to dress her in about half an hour.

What she did not know was that just outside her bedroom, on her balcony, the dreaded Praetorian was still there, watching her as she made her way to the bathroom.

As she thought she was alone, she slowly let the broad collar of her nightgown slide over her shoulders, until the top of the cloth fell across her back, leaving it bare for prying eyes to see. She didn't know it were indeed prying eyes that saw her back. When he saw the ivory skin, glowing in the rays of the invading sunlight, the Praetorian could not help but swallow deeply, reminding himself that he was laying eyes on something that he was not allowed to see. Nonetheless, he didn't avert his eyes, as if a spell caused him to keep on watching.

Videl entered the bathroom, unknowingly shielding her body from his eyes as she walked around the corner to the bathtub. He heard her open the tab and now more than ever he cursed the presence of a wall between them.

The next twenty minutes she remained in the bathroom and sweet perfumes and scents of lotions reached his nostrils. He almost gave in to the desire to just call her name softly, ever so softly, but loud enough for her to hear. She would then burst into the room with the shining red-silk bathrobe cladding her body freely and she would look around the room and search for him while she yelled and scolded at him. Oh, she would be so fiery, so gorgeous, so enchanting.

But no… No, this time he would let her be. She hardly had any privacy and he could imagine that she would eventually hate his presence in this room, even though she had grown so attached to him.

Because attached to him she was. In the beginning she feared him and his presence. She pleaded him to leave her alone. But how could he, guarding her was his job. But she grew accustomed to him and forgot her fear. She sneered at him, yelled at him, scolded at him… and then, she took the step towards the darkness. He would never forget that moment.

She entered his territory and though he would not readily admit it, he had no idea what to do. But she challenged him to come closer and eventually, he gave in to the challenge… it was not quite what she expected.

"_You challenging me?" He suddenly whispered in her ear, making her freeze to her spot. He chuckled and he moved closer to her, while he heard her breathe rapidly. He smelled her hair and his heart began to race; he had never been this close to her._

"_Well?" He whispered on her hair as he began to caress her bare shoulder._

_She cleared her throat as she leaned closer to him. A smirk crawled up to his lips; so she was stubborn… not willingly defeated. _

"_I have to admit… I didn't think you had the guts." She said slowly and with a slightly seductive tone. Another challenge…_

"_However…" She began as she turned around to face him, even though she couldn't see him in the darkness. "You're still a coward."_

"_Oh?" He said while he gently tugged a strand of hair behind her ear._

"_Yeah, want to know why?" She was so close to him right now. He noticed that his chest touched her breasts and he genuinely cursed himself for wearing hard armor. _

"_Tell me." He whispered as he leaned even closer to her. He could now feel the hot, sweet breath on his face. He saw her smile in the darkness and she brought her mouth to his ear._

"_Would you follow me to the light?" She whispered back, tickling his ear with her breath. By now she pulled away from him and she walked to her side of the room… to the bed that was lightened up by the pale moonlight. She whirled around one more time and looked at him (or at least where she thought he was) cockily._

"_Well?" She mocked with her hands on her hips. _

_But he remained in the darkness and he let out a growl of frustration. He couldn't follow her to the light. It would reveal him._

"_Guess not… aren't you tough!" He heard her say sarcastically. It was the final word that was spoken that night.  
_

He sighed as he thought back to that. It had happened almost two months ago. And since that night, she entered the darkness frequently. Whether it was to challenge him to reveal himself, or as a thrill, or as a comfort or just because she felt like it.

After a while, he saw her exit the bathroom with the red robe loosely around her body. He watched her put on her white make-up; she was turning into the Ivory Lady again. She was almost done when a key was turned in the lock of the door. The opening door revealed a Saiyan maid that would help her to dress. She dressed Videl into a blue and white kimono, with a simple pattern of lilac flowers on the hem, until the maid spoke.

"The King requests you to join him for breakfast."

Videl turned her head towards the maid and looked with her with a startled frown.

"Why?" She asked suspiciously.

The maid shrugged her shoulders apologetically.

"Forgive me, I don't know."

With a thoughtful expression on her face, Videl looked at her reflection in the mirror in front of her. She wondered why the King would invite her for breakfast. Usually, her breakfast was brought to her room.

She was watching it absently, before she realized what she was looking at and she whirled around to look at the doors that led to her balcony.

Did she really see what she just saw?

Did she see a…

"…tail?" She whispered.

Without thinking she walked towards the doors that led to the balcony and went through them. But there was nobody there. She turned her gaze to the right and to the left, hoping to find _him_. Because she realized then that what she had seen had seen in the mirror was the tail of the Praetorian. He wasn't there though… he was gone again. She was about to watch over the banister when she heard the maid calling for her from inside of her room.

"The King… he's waiting for you." She had said.

Videl sighed in exasperation. Reluctantly she turned around but before she went inside again she looked over her shoulder.

'Praetorian… It was him. It definitely was him.'

* * *


	4. Audax Regis

* * *

Chapter 3:

Audax Regis

She followed the maid through the palace, to the dining room were King Vegeta, her hostage taker, or, as he liked to call it, 'host', was waiting impatiently for her. She walked through the long corridors, through the high halls and over numerous staircases, she came across paintings, statues, mirrors.. oh so many mirrors. Videl genuinely admitted the castle was an extraordinary beautiful place, but it lacked the warmth and coziness that would have made it somewhat like home. The grandeur, the impeccability, the sheer size of it made the palace an extremely distant and cold place. But something else lingered in this place.

The marble statues looked like real people, but at the same time held an empty, almost death expression, sending chills down her spine by the mere sight of them. The men on the paintings always seemed to be watching you, no matter in which angle you looked at them… never turning their gaze away.

And then the mirrors. There was always one in each room, and several in the big halls. They reflected the light of the chandeliers, the glistering of the gold and silver, the ever shining marble. But they seemed to be different. All the mirrors in the castle were different than normal ones, even the man's height mirror in her own room. They always seemed to reflect things somewhat darker than they were. Even the Ivory Lady, with her white attire and make-up, was gray in those mirrors. Literally gray. Whiteness became grayness, like the reflections were always a little bit darker than reality.

And then the incredible size of the castle! Every sound of movement, every swish of clothing, every footstep on the marbled floor echoed through the space of the large rooms, and they repeated and repeated themselves, until she couldn't help but look behind, to see if she wasn't followed by something other than her own sound.

The palace summoned feelings inside of her. Fear was inspired by the ever watching eyes of the statues and paintings, confusion by the mirrors that always reflected reality a little darker than she was used to, suspicion by the echoes that followed her through the entire palace.

There were dark secrets in that palace, a silent force that she could not comprehend. Something very deep, profound, mysterious was hidden under all this distant beauty, something that, quite frankly, scared the shit out of her.

She could only hope that she would never be alone in the palace at night. She could keep her head cool during the day, when the rooms were lit up by the sunlight, but she could imagine that she would completely lose it in that place when she couldn't depend on her vision any more. No, she'd rather be locked in her room than be alone in the darkness of these halls.

Eventually Videl and the maid reached the dining room, where two guards were standing on each side of the two-door entrance. At the sight of the Ivory Lady, they bowed ever so slightly and they opened the two doors. Videl cautiously walked through them. She wasn't surprised when she saw that the dining room was very opulent and beautiful, yet cold and distant.

There, at the head of the table, tabbing his fingers impatiently on the top, was King Vegeta, who observed her curiously, and yet in whose eyes lay something she could only call ominous.

"It is rude to keep your host waiting." He stated after the guards had closed the doors of the room.

"It is also rude to keep people as a hostage." She replied venomously, while she looked upon the King with contempt. He was after all the one who kept her there, who humiliated her with his power over her and who stole the freedom she had been denied of her entire life. She had every reason to loath him.

However, the King couldn't care less. He had her completely under his power and she couldn't do anything about it.

"Do not see yourself as hostage." He began with a smirk while Videl took place on the other side of the table. "See yourself as my guest."

"A guest who is forced to stay here for an uncertain amount of time." She sneered back.

"Come, come… you really have nothing to complain about. You are treated as an honour guest."

"Do you always treat your guests this way? Locking them in their room, putting them under constant supervision? Even at night?!" By now, the mere sight of the King smirking boldly at her made her seethe. How she would just love to wipe that arrogant smirk off his face. But instead of slapping him right across the face, she kept her cool and without permission she collected food on her plate, as breakfast was stalled on the table already.

"I thought you'd like some company." He replied as he too started to eat his breakfast.

"Some company… The man that keeps me company is someone I have never seen before!" Videl huffed.

"And that's for good reason…" Vegeta mumbled before he took a sip of his tea, gaining a suspicious eye from the princess who had heard the barely comprehendible mutter. She, however, chose to ignore it. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of talking about it when she desperately wanted to know who guarded her.

"Why have I been called here?" She started instead, disgust very evidently on her white face as she saw her 'host' eating his breakfast. For a King he had lousy table manners.

"I wanted to enlighten you with news about your father." He replied between the baits. To her dismay, she immediately shot her gaze at Vegeta and she unconsciously looked at him wide-eyed, with a glint of hope in her blue orbs. The King saw this and after he stopped eating and wiped the corners of his mouth with his napkin, a smug smile appeared on his rough face. Videl growled and scolded at herself for looking to eager for Vegeta to continue, and she averted her eyes from his and started to stare absently at the tablecloth.

"I have sent four messages in which I have made my demands clear. He hasn't responded to any of them." He drawled as he tentatively watched Videl's reaction, which didn't come as she still stared at the tablecloth, an blank expression on her face.

"It has been over four months since your abduct, Princess. I would let you go, if only your father conceded my demands." Having said that, he finally summoned a reaction in her, because a frown appeared under the layer of make-up while she clenched her teeth.

"And what are your demands, if I may…?" She asked through her clenched teeth.

"He grants me the victory and the Saiyans will win this war. We will go into history as the absolute victor. Furthermore Earth shall pay 987 billion in gold bars to Vegeta, it will have to retrieve all our former colonies plus a few of its planets its conquered from us, it will not be allowed to keep an army consisting of more that three million men and a fleet of 51 starships and it has to surrender half of its asteroid mining facilities, as well as taking the full blame for this entire war." Vegeta stated in a monotonous voice.

Videl immediately jumped up from her seat and looked at the King with eyes that could spit fire.

"Are you out of your mind?!" She started yelling vehemently. "How could my father ever concede those preposterous demands?! They are way to severe and you know it!"

"It as always been this way, little girl." Vegeta mocked, empathizing the last two words. "But I guess you wouldn't know that. Perhaps you should learn more about politics, before you jump to your conclusions. I know your father would have demanded the same things as I do if I were in his shoes. Would you deem them as severe if it were the other way around? I think not."

"I doesn't matter anyway!" She yelled with tears of anger in her eyes. "My father would never comply with those demands. NEVER!"

"Not even for his precious daughter?"

Ouch… that was a stab in her heart. She hoped she was wrong. She hoped that she was awfully wrong and that her father was writing a message to Vegeta this moment to comply with those demands so that she could go free. Otherwise, who knew what would happen? Perhaps she had to spend the rest of her life here… perhaps, even, the King would discard her. Perhaps he would kill her…

NO! No, she would keep faith. She would return eventually, they would set her free eventually. And if they didn't, she would seize her freedom herself…

"Your wishes, _King_, shall never be granted." She said as she tried to remain calm, but her breaking voice proved that she was anything but. She sent a ferocious glare to Vegeta, before she turned around and walked out of the room fast-paced.

Vegeta, who had remained calm this entire confrontation, watched her with a thoughtful expression on his face as she went. When she had closed the door with a slam, he kept on thinking and musing about the next course of action. One thing was certain, however: the princess must never escape if he wanted to end this war. After all, she couldn't succeed her father if she was kept here. The house of Satan would have no heir when it was time for the heir to claim the throne. An absent person could never take the crown.

With that though crawling into his mind, he raised his ki slightly and he waited patiently.

After a few minutes, the doors revealed a young man, unmistakably a Saiyan as he had a furry tail curled around his slim waist. The young man closed the door behind him and when he turned around he looked at the King with a stern expression.

"You signaled, my lord?" He said as he stood upright before his King.

"Yes." Vegeta confirmed as he rose from his chair and started to walk up to the young Saiyan. "You have been keeping a close eye on our captive, and I can only commend you for it. But I have to ask one more thing of you."

"Anything for my King." The Saiyan replied faithfully.

"When guarding her, don't loose her out of your sight for one moment. Watch her every second of the night. During the night she is most likely to escape. We must keep her here by all means… For the sake of the homeland." The King demanded decisively.

"She won't escape. I guarantee that." The Saiyan replied confidently.

"Good!" The King replied as he lay a hand on the young man's shoulder. "I have immense faith in you…"

He squeezed his shoulder a bit as he looked at him with confidence.

"…Gohan"

The young man called Gohan smirked at the king.

"You won't be disappointed." He stated equally confident, causing the King to smirk as well.

"Excellent. Go rest now, you will need all you can get."

And with a bow, Gohan left the room again, leaving the King by himself. When he was gone Vegeta's smirk disappeared and it made place for a concerned frown.

If anyone could handle her, it was Gohan. He had the strength, he had the concentration, he had the precision and he had the resourcefulness to retrieve her if she ever managed to escape.

Yes, Gohan was perfect for the job. He was the only praetorian who could keep his head cool in situations like this, who could restrain himself from raping her if his hormones got to him, the only person who was skillful enough not to be seen by her.

The only way to truly frighten her, and to let her give up all hope, was to drive her insane… She would hate Gohan, oh she would hate him so much. But it didn't matter. As long as she feared it didn't matter. And the only way she could fear him, was when she was completely powerless… when he remained the Praetorian of Darkness.

He could only hope that Gohan wouldn't fall for her. It would be the end of all.

Little did he know however, that had already happened…

* * *


	5. Vox, Qui Me Terret

**A/N: I used a song in this chapter. Hallelujah, Jeff Buckley. I chose this song because of its religious meaning, that suits well in this part of the story.**

* * *

Chapter Four:

Vox, Qui Me Terret

She ran…

Like a graceful, elegant doe followed by the footsteps of the quickly closing in hunter, she ran as fast as her legs could. Until they felt like solid stone, she ran, trying to escape from the harsh truth.

_Not even for his precious daughter?_

_Not even for his precious daughter?_

_Not even for his precious daughter?_

SHUT UP!!!

_It's been over four months…_

_It's been over four months…_

STOP IT!!!

_If only your father conceded…_

THAT'S ENOUGH!!!

Bitter tears flowed freely over her painted cheeks, a heartbreaking sob escaped her blood red mouth, fleeing footsteps echoed through the empty halls.

Vegeta's voice, his cold and stern voice, filled her chaotic mind, kept following her as she tried to run away from the words she was not willing to hear.

_He will not grant my wishes…_

No…

_You said it yourself._

No…

_Your father is giving you up._

No…

_And you shall never see __your beloved home…_

Stop!

… _ever…_

Stop!!

… _again. _

STOP!!!

A vile chuckle, making the hair on her neck stand on their ends.

_Foolish little girl!__ Did you expect that your father would free you?_

There was a silence.

_Princess, princess… Don't you know anything about the world?_

She didn't.

_I thought so. You always thought the world was full of beauty and peace. Full of gentle people__, pink-and-white daisies, prancing ponies and sparkling waters. Cherry blossom, carried by the modest wind… glorious food produced by mother nature herself… symphonies of hundreds of dark wooded violins… citizens laughing out their happiness in the streets. The air is cool and fresh, bringing with her the scent of the far away oceans. The still lakes reflect the cloudless air on their perfect surface. The feathery wings of sleep guide you to your serene dreams as the sultry twilight turns into a velvet night, and you close your eyes with the last thing you see being the painting of a single boat sailing towards the swift sunset that hangs on the white wall opposite your bed. And you dream of endless fields of golden wheat, as you walk through them slowly and while you let the tickling strings run through your fingers. You wake up with the orange sun in your face and the birds chirping on your window-sill. And you think… what a wonderful world._

… What a wonderful world…

_You should have stayed in that lie, you little princess!_

… I should have stayed.

_But now you find out the hard way… the world is a place of evil and filth. Of darkness, war, corruption and poverty. The plebs live a life of servitude, stuck in the well of drudgery from which they can't escape, their backs arching by the weight of their terrible labor__, their hearts roughening by the endless stream of pain and tears. The aristocracy lives a life of constant fear… fear of being betrayed… fear of loosing everything they whole dear, always having to be submissive to their Lord and King, the sword of death hanging above their head, waiting to strike if chance allowed it. The animals are being extinct as the centuries go by, seeking their refuge in the ever diminishing nature, until they will have no place to hide from their doom. The blue skies shall turn gray and the clouds cry out their tears, grieving, for they witness the incontrovertible destruction of the world that was once empty of all its foulness. The gods have turned their back on us and in silent sorrow they wait for the apocalypse that is soon to come, they wait for their second chance of creating the perfect world, the utopia, as they have failed miserably with their first attempt._

That's a lie!

_How would you know?! You have as much knowledge of the world as a newborn creature, you are in your cradle when it comes to life experience. Do you deny it?_

No… no, I don't…

_Then acknowledge the fact that the world is not a place of lightness, but of darkness._

Even in darkness, there must be light…

_All lights have gone out… all hope has vanished…_

As long as there's life, there is hope.

_People have stopped living… they merely exist, souls wandering through the vast masses of darkness, until they are finally freed by death. And so shall it be for you._

It will not be like that.

_Oh, but it will. Prepare yourself for a long and terrible existence…_

No…

… _in a world of despair and loneliness…_

Stop…

… _pain and loss…_

I won't listen…

… _from which you can't escape…_

I refuse to listen!

… _and every day__ for the rest of your life, you remain here…_

"I heard there was a secret chord… that David played and it pleased the Lord…"

… _you can sing, recite… pray all you want__. Eventually you will see it is in vain._

"But you don't really care for music, do you?"

_You will realize that nobody can save you from this living nightmare…_

"And it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth… the minor fall and the major lift…"

… _this hell you are not familiar with…_

"The baffled King composing hallelujah…"

… _and in the end, you shall loose all hope…_

"Hallelujah…"

… _because the dark secrets…_

"Hallelujah."

… _the silent force…_

"Hallelujah…"

… _shall summon__ feelings…_

"Hallelujah."

… _and they shall break you!!!_

* * *

The voice was gone. When she started singing the first song that popped into her head, Vegeta's voice became increasingly softer, until eventually he had to scream out the last part in order for her to hear.

And that last part frightened her as she thoughts about it now.

Dark secrets… silent force… summoning feelings.

Was he… talking about the mystery of the palace? Had she been right in her fear and suspicion for something that lingered here, something she could not comprehend?

Then again, wasn't it peculiar that he used the exact some words she used in her mind regarding to the emotions she had towards this mystery?

Dark secrets… silent force… summoning feelings… it all came from her, and now Vegeta used the exact same words in her head.

What the hell?

Was she going insane out here?

Of course! It wasn't Vegeta who spoke to her in her head… it was just her imagination that created the voice of Vegeta. He didn't really speak to her, it was her own mind.

But it seemed so real…

… and it sounded so dark.

She didn't even know that her own imagination could create something that was so dark, so frightening that it almost made her loose all hope.

It was this damned place. That did the trick. It was this castle that created all these feelings, these emotions that slowly began to consume her. But what could anyone expect in a place where you could constantly feel eyes on you, where you felt uncomfortable, even afraid, when you were alone. A place so cold and distant and impeccable… a place that resembled a prison so much. A place were anyone could loose his mind, if that anyone was too fragile.

She was too fragile. She was protected from real life, where there was darkness if you didn't allow the light. Where there was pain if you couldn't see the joy. Where there were tears if you were blind for a smile.

Were there is despair, if you couldn't keep hope.

It was only natural that she had these dark thoughts now. She never truly experienced hardship, never truly felt fear. And now that she did, she felt like she was tossed into a deep pit, unable to get out. And of course, then you loose hope.

But no more…

She would not loose hope.

She would be free again.

Free from this castle, free from fear, free from hardship…

… free from those dark thoughts.

Videl Satan would not loose hope…

… because Videl Satan was not a quitter.

She would escape this hell…

… or she would die trying.

And after she took her vows, she finally realized where her legs had carried her, for she had not paid attention to her surroundings until then.

She was standing in a moderately sized hall on the fourth floor on the east side of the palace. There were many like these halls, and they had no function other than baffle every soul that entered them. the King obviously wanted to boast his wealth and he used these kind of rooms as a means.

But that was not was she was thinking about at that moment.

Because all of these halls were decorated opulently with the most brilliant pieces of art. And at the moment Videl was facing one of these objects. It wasn't originated from Vegeta, but from Earth… definitely. The style and themes were unmistakebly human. And as she looked more closely, she recognized it with horrified startle and she couldn't help but relate to one of the from marble carved figures.

It was a statue of a woman, seized by a bearded man. Her face was twitched in death fear as she tried to push herself away from the man's body, but it was in vain. He was holding her so tight that his fingers were pressed into her flesh, and he had tilted her off the floor, and he would take her with him. She would be abducted…

The statue was one of Bernini's masterpieces…

'Il ratto di Proserpina'

'The rape of Proserpina'

* * *


	6. Fraus Virgini

* * *

Chapter Five:

Fraus Virgini

Night had fallen, like it did everyday after the clocks had announced the hour for the nineteenth time that day and now, in the early evening, five hours before midnight, the black darkness had invaded the palace, spreading through the halls like thunder clouds slowly covering the entire sky as far as the eye reaches in the silence before the storm. Or like the fog, descending on the earth, covering the ground with a veil of misty clouds and gradually blurring the sight of all those who find themselves being in that thick haze.

A dead silence reigned the halls of Vegeta, vacant of every and any sound apart from the lone footsteps of the servants who quickly made their way from the one quarter of the castle to another, cautious of the dark and the emptiness of the broad passages and high corridors of the magnificent home of the King.

The only things that could offer just a little bit of hope to those who feared the nights on Vegeta were the pale, crescent moon in the almost black sky, shining its clear light onto the upcoming blackness, and the chirping crickets in the garden of the castle, breaking the almost deafening silence with their nocturnal songs.

And he listened to those songs absently as he hid in the corners of her room. With a blank expression he watched the bed that was bathing in the ocean of moonlight he wanted to avoid at all costs. With an occasional sigh he waited for the princess's return.

More than he actually wanted to admit, Gohan was anticipating with anxiety her return. She was late today… Or at least, later than usual. She was always back before seven in the evening, after dinner, never has she been a minute later. The castle was 'creepy', to use her term, after seven and he knew her well enough to know that she'd rather be in her room, her comfortable, private room than to roam the darkness of the halls of the King, where there always seemed to be moving something in the corners of your eyes and where the silence was cold and frightening.

And he couldn't help but admit that he felt a little wary about her being away for longer than he had been expecting. Not only was he a little concerned about her, he also longed to see her face and to hear her voice…

… And yes, even to touch her body.

Because she was a nice company. Fiery, yes… but never a boring moment with her at least.

He didn't have much time to think about it. Because after a short while he heard footsteps outside the door, the steps faint in the beginning, but becoming louder as it approached the room.

Gohan immediately sat up. It was the princess. He clearly heard the light yet swift footsteps that belonged to her and which he had learned to recognize in these past few months.

But she wasn't alone. Someone was with her, he could hear another pair of feet walking on the marble floor, swift as well but heavier than Videl's. He could hear the muffled voices becoming louder and louder, until Gohan could unmistakably hear someone speaking to the other person in high-pitched voice, and his heart made a small leap when he recognized that voice to be the Princess's.

"…you about my laundry, it's unheard of. I truly can't tolerate this."

The door swang open, revealing a furious Princess and a young Saiyan woman Gohan recognized as one of Videl's maids.

"I never gave you my consent to remove my clothes from my bedroom." Yelled a fuming Videl to the woman who was barely older than her and who had narrowed her eyes and carried a define scowl on her face, watching the Princess with obvious aversion. Her loathing was evident. Not that Gohan could really blame the maid for that. Videl _was_ human after all, and even though she was a princess, she didn't possess the strength any Saiyan possessed by nature. And thus, she was inferior. The maid knew this, Gohan knew this… Videl didn't.

"What if something important was in my pockets? What if it got lost while you were doing my laundry? Or worse, what if it fell into _your_ hands?" Videl continued to yell at the maid. Gohan sensed that the maid's power level began to rise a bit but she kept herself fairly under control.

"From now on…" Videl concluded, "…you shall only remove my clothes when I give you permission to. Do I make myself clear?"

The maid growled but nodded, and she turned around rapidly and made her way to the door, clenching her fists in anger, disappearing through the door and leaving Gohan and Videl alone in the room.

Videl sighed in exasperation and let herself fall onto the bed, staring at the ceiling as she was rubbing her temples while her whole body was exposed to the pale, invading moonlight. He looked at her for a while, until from the darkness Gohan spoke.

"That was not very nice."

Videl jumped up and with a startled expression she looked at the corner he stood in, the corner that was covered in shadows. When she realized who it was, a scowl came to her face and her tense body relaxed.

"Oh, you again." She said as if she talked to a cockroach that just wouldn't die.

Gohan chuckled. "It's always me again. I thought you would have known by now."

Videl rose from her bed and walked to the glass doors that divided her room from the balcony. She shoved aside the long, transparent curtains. "Don't flatter yourself. Excuse me that I can't get accustomed to someone watching me at night." She muttered as she watched the dark night.

"Every night." He added.

He could see her shiver, but she didn't say anything to that. Instead she stared at something outside Gohan couldn't see. For quite some time he watched her as she stood there, the white makeup on her face, almost shining in the light of the moon. She possessed a cold beauty, sometimes very much like the marble statues in the halls of Vegeta. And then she would move and he would realize that he was looking at a stunning piece of living art.

"So what is wrong with the laundry?" He asked to break the long-lasting silence.

She frowned but she didn't tear her eyes away from the spot she was looking at. "That's none of your business." She replied icily.

"But it is my business when you anger your maid to the point that she'd happily finish your life. I am supposed to keep you alive here." He approached her soundlessly in the darkness. She didn't appear to notice.

"The maid wouldn't dare to harm me. She'd single-handedly restart the war with Earth."

Gohan chuckled joyously. "You seriously think that would have mattered to her? You are human, Princess and the most naïve of your kind. It is sometimes as amazing as distressing. The childish simplicity of your mind is so incredibly refreshing. And that at the oh so tender age of seventeen… Not a child, not yet a woman either."

This time the Princess turned to him and looked at him with those deep, magnificent, yet ice cold blue eyes.

"Says and man of what age?" She asked haughtily.

He grinned at her question. "It is all about experience."

Gohan saw she had a remark burning on her lips. She wanted to come with a witty reply to that reminder of her lack of experience, that almost personal insult, but nevertheless she kept her silence and looked to the world outside the room again. She turned her gaze to the spot that she'd been looking at previously and stood there, staring as if she'd forgotten all about her guard and the insult he made to her and for a few minutes she became the marble statue again. Then all of a sudden her hand reached out for the door handle and she opened it and stepped out of her room, onto the balcony and the cold of the night.

Gohan watched her with suspicion. The nights at Vegeta weren't exactly the warmest and if she just wanted to take some fresh air, she was hugely underdressed with her thin, silk kimono. And it didn't comfort him either that he couldn't follow her, because he'd immediately reveal himself in the moonlight.

She took a few steps onto the balcony, Gohan following her closely with his eyes, and leaned against the gray stoned banister of the balcony for a while. After what must have been only a few minutes she walked to the left side of the balcony and the walls of the room prevented Gohan from seeing her from the place he stood. She completely withdrew herself from his sight.

Gohan growled a bit. He didn't like this at all. In all the time he had been watching her at night, he never lost her out of his sight. She was always there, always under the watchful eyes of the Praetorian. It sort of gave him a smug satisfaction, the thought that she couldn't escape from his sight gave him power over her. But now that he couldn't see her, he felt powerless. And yes, he admitted reluctantly that he also felt worried. It just wasn't right.

He moved closer to the balcony door without stepping into the moonlight. He still couldn't see her. He decided that all there was to do was to wait for her return to the room. Eventually she'd come back, she wasn't dressed to the cold.

And he waited.

Several minutes went by but still she didn't return to the room.

As the minutes passed by he was getting more and more anxious. He wondered why she remained outside, why she didn't come back, why she chose that particular place to stand, and not in the realm of his vision.

And as he wondered that last thing, realization began to slap him in the face hard.

In panic he made his way to the balcony door and stepped into the light. He looked around and realized his suspicion hadn't betrayed him.

She was gone.

She wasn't on the balcony anymore.

All kinds of doom scenarios crossed his mind. She fell over the banister, she was recaptured by her own kin, she was shot by one of the guards and had fallen down. But even though his panic governed him, he could see the impossibilities of those scenarios.

He walked to the place she'd walked too before she had disappeared; the left side of the balcony where he couldn't see her. And then he saw what he couldn't see before.

Rose branches.

All the way down.

And right now, the branches were moving.

Panic made place for blind anger as Gohan realized that she was neither killed, nor abducted, nor had fallen down but that she had orchestrated her disappearance all by herself. She was trying to escape.

And as Gohan walked to the stone banister, his assumption had been confirmed. Because there he saw her, climbing down the rose branches, several feet above the ground.

She hadn't seen him standing there yet. And Gohan decided that she wouldn't see him either. In a flash he dove down the balcony and within less than a second he stopped right behind her. He saw her freezing in her movements as he hovered behind her for a while. She didn't move, she didn't turn around, she didn't try anything, because she knew she was busted.

"Bad move, Princess. Bad move."

And then he hit her with just the right power across the temple. She released the branches and fell unconscious in his arms.

* * *


	7. Anima Distracta

* * *

Chapter Six:

Anima Distrata

"_Twiggy, fight me."_

_Videl turned her head with a start. __They were all staring at her expectantly. The soldiers, the commanders, the officers, but above all the captain._

"_E-excuse me sir?" She asked in a hoarse voice, barely even louder than a whisper. _

"_You heard me, Twig. Take your sword and fight me." Commanded the captain briskly. The was no trace of doubt in his voice. It was an order and brought as an order should be brought. Highly authoritative and with the confidence of a man she learned to know and admire from a distance._

_Yes, admire indeed. He was an extraordinary man, captain Marius, whose second nature was fighting and whose life was dedicated to it. Courageous, proud, honourable, powerful, who didn't fear pain, death or fear itself. He was a symbol of all that was invincible and strong in this life, like a rock in the vast current of the river. It gave her hope that he was fighting with them, leading them, as if nothing could happen when he was there with them, in the heat of the battle that was to come soon. And now the man she had come to respect so much asked her to face him, head-to-head, in a battle that would prove his might and her weakness. _

_He looked at her sternly and she knew she had no choice. She had to fight him right here and now, in front of all these people, all her friends, all her superiors. If it was someone else, any other person who had to take his sword and fight the captain, she would have felt sorry for that person. To prove yourself under these circumstances, with everyone watching, judging, laughing when you make a mistake, and against such a powerful opponent. You honour and dignity was at stake. And now it was she who was in the situation. And she could honestly say she wished it would have been someone else. _

_She took her sword out of its socket, but the moment she got it out she dropped it out of her shaking hands. A few of the soldiers who stood in a row behind her sniggered in muffled chuckles as she dropped the sword, making her confidence sink even more.__ That was mistake number one. And she was sure that it wouldn't be the last. _

_This was not her. Videl Satan was a great martial artist, not that clumsy rookie she appeared to be right now. It was all the people around her, watching her with critical eyes, that almost made her freeze and smother at the same time. She wanted to refuse to do the thing she normally loved, fighting and fighting for honour. But this was a battle she'd lose one way or another, and everyone would witness it. Everyone could see her failure._

_And they would see it._

_With a face as red as a red apple she took she sword in her hands again, holding it tightly for fear of dropping it again. Her hands were sweaty, as her forehead was. She felt that all eyes were on her, watching her every move, as if they spun invisible ropes between them and her, limiting her in all her movements. Cautiously she took a few steps forward, until she was less than thirty feet from her captain. The captain hadn't moved a muscle, had not even drawn his sword. He just stood there, watching her with the severe look that was characteristic for him, waiting for her to make the first move. _

_Videl shivered and gripped her sword harder. The sweat drops dripped from her forehead and her breathing quickened. All the time she counted till three, but never did she make a move when she was at one. Always delaying, always stalling and the captain kept waiting for her. _

_A gust of fresh air suddenly came over Videl, cooling her perspiring face, and she decided that this was the moment in which she would draw swords with her captain. _

_One deep breath…_

_And she dashed forward._

* * *

She suddenly woke up from her dreams. There had been a sound that pulled her to consciousness again. But now that she was awake she didn't know what the sound was and where it had come from.

Looking around she saw that it was still night when she opened her eyes and the only light in the room came from the crescent moon in the black sky. She noticed her head hurt. She tried to move but whenever she did, she became dizzy and so she put her head down on the pillow.

What had happened to her? Was she run over by a horde of rhinos or something? Did she fall off the roof? She didn't know. She couldn't remember. She looked at her hands. They were bound in bandages, carefully and tightly, but the red stains were visible. Her hands were bleeding underneath the white fabric. But she didn't care. All she cared about was the pain in her head, the sound that had woken her completely forgotten. The thing she wanted most right now was not an answer to all the raised questions, no she just wanted to go to sleep.

Sleep…

She thought of her dream. The battle between her and her captain. She remembered it all too well. It was the first time she had to endure the pain and shame of defeat. He didn't even draw his sword.

It was a painful memory. Never had she doubted her strengths and abilities up until that moment. Before she had always been invincible, she was the best fighter at the court. But the world outside of the court was of a whole different level. It didn't even compare. She was a nothing when everything mattered.

It took the captain one blow. One well-aimed hit across the temple, a hit that would have been deadly had the captain not controlled his strength the way he did. It was brilliant.

She unconsciously dozed off again, being in the blissful phase of pre-sleep. Her surroundings were a vast blur, her mind cleared, the pain flattened. If only she could stay like this forever, still awake but asleep, conscious but unconscious, no dreams, no worries, no nothing. She suddenly was pulled to reality again when she heard the sound that had woken her earlier.

It was a low, guttural growl, coming from the shadows in the corners of her room.

She remembered it all now. It all came back to her. That's why her head hurt, that's why her hands were bleeding, that's why she was lying here in bed. At the time she didn't know what had come over her. She saw the rose branches, all the way down to the ground and she decided to take her chance. She had known it was stupid, but she had to try, she had to escape. Even though her hands had to grab the sharp thorns on the braches, she had to at least give it a shot.

But he caught her again. One blow, one hit across the temple. So simple. It had taken no effort at all. Just like the captain.

She had lost again.

"_What is the matter, Princess? You remember it again?"_

She froze. There was his voice, he was still there in her room, observing her as she lay there in bed. And by the sound of it, he wasn't pleased. A cold fear crept up in her being. How angry had she made him?

"_Come here." _He demanded icily. The edge of rage in his voice was unmistakable.

"My head hurts." She replied in defiance, determined to keep her fear hidden, even though she dreaded him right now, and what he could do to her.

It was silent for a moment and she stared into the darkness. She half expected that he would step into the light and drag her into the shadows, but he didn't. Instead he spoke again. And it wasn't pretty.

"_You… will come… here."_

Shivers went down her spine when she heard the pure rage in his voice. The words were spoken calmly, but no one could have missed the threat in them. This was the first time she felt genuine fear for him again. She hadn't had that since the first few days she was watched by him.

She was afraid to step into the shadows. But to be frank, she was more afraid of what might happen when she didn't. He couldn't kill her, and that wasn't what she was worried about. She had to stay alive after all, on the King's orders. But at the same time she knew that there were worse things than death. When she was in the army, she knew torturing prisoners were common practice. Captives were starved, mutilated, scalped, and the screams… She had learned pain could be worse than death.

Would he hurt her however? She didn't want to think of it. She didn't want to think of all the things he was able to do, what he could do to her. She only knew she had to keep her head held high, face whatever punishment he might have in store for her like a daughter of her father, like a Satan. And so that was what she did. She suppressed her fear and she rose from the bed and with difficulty, as her head still hurt, she walked to the darkness of her room. As she did, she felt the apprehension turn into nausea with every step she came closer to the darkness.

And then she was blinded by the shadows. She blinked with her eyes and tried to see any shapes or contours of her furniture, something that at least gave her an idea of what she was looking at, but the black darkness was everywhere, all around her. When sight failed her, she listened to every sound in the room. She heard him breathing somewhere, through his nose, loud and rapid, but she couldn't figure out where he was. Cold panic struck her heart and her breathing quickened.

It was maddening. To know that he was there, obviously watching her and Videl felt like a prey being observed and followed by her predator.

"Praetorian?" She asked weakly, looking around, looking everywhere for just a shape in the shadows. There was a deadly silence.

All of a sudden he grabbed her wrist and that she was turned around violently. She nearly cried out loud when she felt his large hand gripping her with strong force. She felt a breathing on her face as she was pulled against his chest hard.

"_You will never do that again."_ He hissed as he pressed his chest against hers. The hard armor he was wearing hurt her in her breasts as he mercilessly pulled her against him. She couldn't move, she couldn't see, she could only listen to his threats and pray it would be over soon.

"_You will never try to escape me ever again."_ He continued menacingly. _"You won't consider escaping, you won't dream of escaping, you won't even think of escaping. Because do you honestly believe you could? A spoiled little brat that knows nothing of anything? Well, do you?"_

"I-I…" Her breath caught in her throat as she failed to find words to speak with. She had never seen him like this.

"_You thought you wouldn't be caught? __That you could just run off that easily? That you wouldn't be discovered by me or anyone else?"_

He grabbed her by both of her shoulders and roughly shook her, as if he tried to shake some sense into her. Too frightened to struggle, Videl let him, hot tears stinging in her eyes as fear overcame her.

"_Call yourself lucky that I stopped you, the palace guards would have killed you before you could even blink, before you could even make a death wish. I saved your life today, you owe your petty existence to me now."_

He bent down and brought his eyes to her level and despite the darkness, Videl could see the glistering in them. If she hadn't been in this current situation, she would have been amazed by it.

"_I've sworn to protect you."_ He hissed furiously, his hot breath tickling her face. _"It was an oath I've made to my King… and to myself. If you even try to escape again I won't be as merciful as I was today. I will let the guards have you and you will face a greater punishment than you do now. Don't test me, Princess. Do not. This is my first and last warning to you. Do you understand what I'm saying?"_

Tears dwelled in Videl's eyes. Never had she been spoken like this to, and never had words stung her this much.

_A spoiled little brat that knows nothing of anything…_

_Your petty existence…_

Even he said it.

Desperately she bit her lip, trying to stop the tears from falling down, but a few of them already rolled down her cheeks. She was terrified and hurt and her whole body shook, like a frightened lamb that had just escaped from the clutches of the wolf. She just wanted to lie down now, and she wouldn't mind if she never woke up again. What was the use of living in a golden cage? No hope for alteration, only a great, devastating desire for something that was out of her reach.

Freedom…

She tried to stop her tears, but when she realized it was in vain she let them drop freely. At the moment she didn't care that he saw it, saw the weakness of her. He already thought she was weak anyway so what did she have to lose? She lost her honour long time ago.

Suddenly she felt his fingers brushing her cheek, gentle and tender. She didn't look up. It was as if she saw everything in a rush. It was all unreal, as if it was a dream. Her head was lifted up, she felt a breath against her lips.

Hopeless…

Pursuing her freedom was hopeless…

What were her chances in this world? Where she was prisoner of her own fear? Where she lived only because others allowed her to? Where there wasn't anyone who cared about her?

Hot lips covered hers. Warm arms wrapped around her body.

There was nothing to live for.

Nothing in the void of the darkness. Nothing in the cold sunshine, the empty light of the moon.

Her own reflection turned more gray every day.

The brightness of her being broke.

Was it over now?

She was intoxicated by the soothing warmth. It was lovely. It was like a hot summers day in the meadows of the castle in the country. Or the sand on the beach, heated by the burning sun, crawling through her toes. This was what heaven should feel like. Probably even what heaven would feel like. Angels must have brought her here. That meant it was over, she was saved.

And she opened her eyes slowly to welcome heaven, but instead she was brutally pulled to reality. She could feel the blood leaving her face and her heart stopping.

She pushed him away from her, resentment filling her entire being.

"Don't touch me." She whispered. She didn't see him anymore but she knew well enough that what happened had been real.

He had kissed her.

"Stay away from me!"

And as she yelled these words to him, she walked away, away from the darkness to the safe sanctuary that was her bed, bathing in the pale moonlight.

He had kissed her.

She didn't even change into her nightgown, she didn't even remove the white make up on her face. She just cried herself to sleep, feeling violated and dirty.

He had kissed her…

* * *


	8. Contemplatus Praetorii

* * *

Chapter Seven:

Contemplatus Praetorii

Was there anyone more stupid than him at this moment?

Even ice cubes were smarter than him after this, what the hell was he thinking?

In his modest chambers, deep under the surface of the earth, Gohan restlessly lay in his bed. It was daytime now, which meant for him that he was allowed to catch some sleep before the sun would set that day and he had to go to his post again to guard the Princess. But this time, the young Saiyan couldn't catch the sleep, because of the foolish thing he had done last night.

He had kissed her.

Her, Videl, the Princess of the Earth, the one whom he was supposed to protect with life and death and now he had kissed her.

How could he?

It had been a strange night that night. Her first attempt of escaping. She hadn't plan it, she just made it all up as she went. Improvising is what he called that. Climbing down the rose branches, foolish enough to think she'd succeed and outsmart them all with such a simple plan that even a three year old could have come up with. Even his little brother would have planned his escape more extensively if he'd been in the Princess's position, and that meant something.

He had hit her across the temple and she fell unconsciously in his arms. The temple, one of the crucial points in a human body. Too little power and it only caused a really bad headache, too much and it would mean someone's death. Fortunately he knew how to proportionate his power to the strength of his opponent and with one easy hit she was out already. The weakness of the human race.

He took her to her room again and put her on the bed. He washed and put bandages on her wounded hands, that had been damaged by the sharp thorns of the rose branches and he retreated to the shadows again, waiting in his fury until the Princess woke up.

Gohan rose from his bed and walked to and fro through his room, arms crossed and a frown plastered on his face.

Oh, he had been so angry with her. How dare she even try to escape? She was treated as an honour guest and still she had the nerve to throw that all away and escape the grounds where she had it so good. Is this the thanks what his King received, after sparing her life and treating her like the royal she was? That girl knew no honour or respect or whatsoever.

But at the same time he knew he was only fooling himself and that he wasn't being honest. That she was disrespectful to his King was understandable, to a certain degree. He didn't know if he'd be treating King Hercule with respect had he been taken captive and forced to stay at the court as a prisoner. He was the enemy after all, and he was sure Videl looked upon it like that the exact same way.

The reason that he was so furious with her, so angry that he had the urge to hit her and to be violent with her… to hurt her, was…

It was betrayal.

She had betrayed him.

* * *

"_There is nothing to be afraid of, Princ__ess. I shall protect you with my life. I shall die for you, if I have to." _

_She looked at him with tears in her eyes, tears shed because she was frightened of him, tears because she was lonely, tears because she missed her former life, but above all tears because she didn't feel safe and secure._

"_You don't know me and you'd give you life for me? Why?" She asked weakly, looking at him with those big blue eyes that were always so distant and cold but which were now warm and vulnerable. _

"_Because I am your guard, and I will do what is best for you." He replied confidently, hoping to inspire some hope in her. He couldn't take crying women very well, especially crying girls. He never had._

"_Will you release me when I ask you to?" She asked him with regained power, wiping the tears from her cheeks and her eyes, her white make up completely ruined. _

_Gohan chuckled a bit. He got a persistent one this time._

"_It is not my place to release you, only my King Vegeta can decided about that." He replied. He was already sorry for his answer, because he saw the young Princess watching her hands as she sat on the bed, struggling to hold back her tears, her bottom lip trembling with the despair that had come over her. And as she sat there, he found her beautiful._

_He had to admit, he felt sorry for her. Being so far from home, from her father, from all that was familiar to and loved by her, to be abducted to this place where she knew nothing and nobody and where she was likely to spend a very long time if the King of Earth didn't decided to concede the wishes of King Vegeta. He could imagine that she was scared, only he didn't know how to make it better for her. _

"_Princess," He started softly, and she turned her head to him, watching him with red eyes and parted lips, and he found himself amazed by her as the moonlight revealed one side of her face and barely shone upon the other. She was a stunning picture and he had to regain his cool before he continued. _

"_As long as I'm with you, nothing will happen to you. I will protect you… even from yourself, if it's required. Where there is darkness, there I am. You can rest assured about that. For now my life is devoted to you. I will be your one and only loyal guard, no one else, only me. And no, there will be no chance of escaping, because either I or the other guards will stop you and even if you could fool us, you will never get off these lands by yourself anyway. But you can try to make the best of it, be patient, explore the lands of the King, read the most amazing books, see animals you've never heard of, experience things you never thought were possible, and enjoy my protection as you do. It is all what you make of it, and know that you are not alone, because every night when you return to your room, I will be there, waiting for you, offering you some company, and I always will, for as long as you will be under my guidance. What do you say, Princess?"_

_She looked at her hands again and seemed to be in deep thought. After taking a deep sigh, she replied._

"_It's really the best I can get, isn't it?"_

_Gohan smiled in the darkness, even though he knew it wasn't seen by Videl._

"_Okay then, whatever." She mumbled sadly._

"_Will you not escape?" _

_The Princess smiled bitterly at his question. "You just said it yourself… As if I could." _

_And with that she stood up and walked to her bathroom, making herself ready for the night as Gohan retreated to the corners of the room again._

* * *

It was betrayal, she said she wouldn't try to escape. All this time he had been there for her, comforting her when she was sad, talking to her when she was lonely, kissing and caressing her when she felt unloved. And now she had thrown that all in the wind and attempted to escape the palace, the King…

… and him.

All the nights of sweet affection they gave to each other, of holding her in his arms, of whispering gentle words in her ear, of touching her silky skin… They meant nothing to her. She could just as easily forget them as she forgot that she said she wouldn't try to escape. If she could leave him that easily, what did _he_ even mean to her? Was he just the guard, just the enemy? Wasn't he at least a friend, if not almost a lover? Didn't she have the emotional attachment he had to her?

Questions…

Questions he didn't have an answer to, questions of which he wasn't even sure why he asked them.

Gohan sat down on his bed again and buried his head in his hands.

What was wrong with him? Of course she would eventually try to escape. He saw it every day, Videl wasn't happy. Even more so, she was miserable. She hardly ever smiled, she was cranky and cold all the time, she cried in her sleep. It had only been a matter of time before she would try to get out of the place that she hated so much.

He had just hoped that he had made it more bearable for her. So bearable that she'd have more peace with staying than escaping vainly. That she perhaps wanted to stay…

… because of him.

He realized that it was vain hope, that it was impossible to expect from her that she'd want to stay only because he happened to guard her. Even though her escape attempt was the clumsiest and most simple one he had ever come across, it was he who had been the fool tonight.

Because his emotional involvement had been too much, too strong. He had now crossed the point where he didn't want her to escape because he was ordered to keep her here, but because he wanted to keep her here for himself. And that was a dangerous thought.

He had grown too fond of her, she made him smile with everything she did, she could be so mad at him and he would love it every second, she made his heart beat faster when he just saw her image, he thought about her and he was happy when he could return to her.

All the while he brushed it off and kept saying to himself that he just liked her company, that it was harmless, that he could be totally indifferent to her if he wanted to.

But now everything was different. She was more than just a nice company to him, and he wanted her to be more. What that was exactly, he didn't know either. He only knew that whatever this was that he felt for her, it had to stop, and the sooner it did, the better.

If only he hadn't been so stupid tonight. He could slam his face into the wall for what he has done. Twice.

Kissing her…

He knew it was forbidden, even at the time he knew. Kissing her was over the line that defined what was safe and what was forbidden, and he had crossed the line with both his feet.

When he saw the tears rolling over her cheeks freely, his anger instantly disappeared and his heart melted. She had rare moments of vulnerability, when she took of her mask completely and showed him she wasn't the cold, tough woman she appeared to be, but the lonely, intensely unhappy girl who needed security and warmth.

Softly he caressed her cheek with his fingers and his heart nearly sank when he saw the deep sorrow on her face, and he hated himself for the outburst she had been forced to see. A whirlwind of mixed emotions went through him.

It was wrong…

It was wrong…

It was so wrong…

But he didn't care. Not about his King, his oath, his fatherland or anything else that would make this impossible and forbidden.

And he kissed her lips.

He grasped his hair with his hands and groaned loudly as he remembered it again. It had been so wonderful, finally tasting those lips after months of longing for them. If he could do it all over again, he wouldn't even doubt one second and he'd kiss her like he had before.

Only it was stupid. Not only because she tasted too good, so sweet, that he was sure that he'd gotten an addiction out of it, but also because she pushed him away after several long seconds.

She didn't want him. If she did she wouldn't have screamed at him, wouldn't have told him not to touch her and to stay away from her. He had felt a stab in his heart when she did. He had been thinking about that for a long time. He had been angry with her for turning away from him. It all came down to the same as with the escape attempt. Clearly he meant nothing to her, she had no feelings for him whatsoever. Nothing.

Now that he thought with a clear mind he couldn't blame her for reacting the way she did though, it was his own stupid mistake after all, but that didn't take away that rejection was painful, especially hers.

But then, as he thought if it now, perhaps that was for the best. He had to emotionally detach himself from her in order to take his distance. He had to be solely her guard again, and keep himself from matters such as friendship, affection, attachment.

It was good, it was better this way.

Only…

Why did it hurt?

Gohan lay down on his bed again, sighing deeply as he watched the ceiling. In a few hours he had to face her again, had to be her guard again. Could he pretend that nothing had ever happened between them? Could he be indifferent towards her? Feel nothing but the need to protect her because of his own duties required him to?

Impossible.

But then, detaching was a process. A process that he'd set into working today. And he'd see how long it would take before he lost his attachment and could look upon her as if she was just another prisoner.

He had hope. After all, he was a Saiyan. And a Saiyan was a master at suppressing emotions. It would all turn out just fine.

And with that thought he turned to his side and after a while he fell asleep, dreaming about the object of his affections, a dream he wouldn't remember when he woke up to the night.

* * *


	9. Signum Fortunae

* * *

Chapter Eight

Signum Fortunae

A few weeks passed by since the night of her escape attempt. The days had grown colder, the winter was approaching, but not only were they colder, they felt… emptier. Vacant of some sort of vibrant energy it always seemed to have, energy that you only missed when it was gone. The liveliness of the wind had died. Like the silence before the storm. It might have been the upcoming winter and the cold and darkness that it brought along, but fact remained that something was changing in the air. Everyone noticed. People talked about it. Whispered of a silent force that governed all and that seemed to be out of balance. There was a collective depression under the inhabitants of Vegeta. People feared what they could not explain, as they always do.

The animals felt that something was off. They were anxious and restless. The horses in the stables were surly and whined all night. The birds of the gardens were not at place wherever they sat. The dogs were barking at the strangest moments and the cats were remarkably frightful and alert.

They say that you can predict an upcoming disaster when the animals are acting in contrast to their nature. Everyone knew this and this fed the depression and the fear that this was an omen.

Videl sensed too there was something in the air as she walked in the gardens of the palace. There was an unseen uproar. Hidden behind the circumstances of daily life. When she walked across the stables, she saw some of the guards struggling with a brown stallion. The horse looked furious through its dark eyes, foaming with rage as it kicked and fought with the Saiyans. The men, despite their strength, couldn't take control of the animal. One of the Saiyans suddenly grabbed the horse's head and snapped it to the left viciously. The sound of the breaking bones was horrible. Videl averted her eyes, shocked as the horse's corps slowly fell to the ground.

"What are you doing?!" One of the guards yelled at the man who killed the horse.

"The beast was mad. I had to finish it off." The responsible replied.

"I don't understand it. It's has always been a gentle horse. How could he change into such a vile creature overnight?" One other asked.

The guard who snapped the horse's neck grunted. "It's not the first animal who has gone completely wild. They're responding to something we can not see. Something's happening."

"What's happening?"

"I'm not sure." He sniffed. "But one thing is certain; they feel more than we do. This is a warning."

His gaze went from one man to the other. Videl shivered.

Suddenly one of the guards started laughing. "Halden my old friend, you are seeing things. It's just a dumb superstition that's scaring the hell out of people who can't think for themselves."

"Don't mock the forces of nature!" The man called Halden hissed. "These are matters you don't understand!"

"And you do?" The other guard questioned before he started laughing at Halden. "Come on," He said to the other men. "We have more important things to do than listening to the idiocy that's proclaimed here."

The other Saiyans followed him and they left Halden alone in the stables.

Videl had watched the scene with growing uneasiness. She didn't know what it was, but that Saiyan Halden had frightened her with his warnings. Not that she believed it, but the man had uttered them with such awe and alarm that it had made her feel uncomfortable.

Suddenly the man noticed her standing outside the stable, watching him.

"Well, well. If it isn't the Ivory Lady of Earth." He said with a sly grin as he walked to her. Videl unconsciously took a few steps back.

"What brings you here, Lady with the veil?" Halden asked with a smirk as he approached her. Videl felt the queasiness in her stomach grow. Without saying a word she turned around and walked away from the Saiyan called Halden.

Halden burst with laughter. "You run away pumpkin! Run away!"

With tears in her eyes she walked to the entrance of the palace. This place was harder and harder to take every day. The coldness of the castle, the hostility of the people, the loneliness. She wanted to run away like Halden said. To leave this place for good, let it burn in the circles of hell. But her attempt to run away had been disastrous and brought her in a situation that was even worse than the one she used to be in.

Her thoughts wandered to her nightly guardian. She felt a huge knob in her stomach as she thought of him. He had been distant as of late. Ever since he had kissed her and she pushed him away, he had been bitter and uncaring. He didn't lie next to her at night. He didn't ask her to enter the darkness. He's done nothing, actually. Hardly spoken a word. Not one soothing word in his velvet voice. Even a hiss would be enough for her, but he hadn't even given her any notion.

She felt the resentment whenever he was in the room. If she didn't feel his presence, it was the resentment that told her senses that he was there. It felt so hostile, so unwelcome. So cold.

She once entered the darkness on her own encouragement. She expected that he would come to her, like he always did. But as she waited for him to seek her out in the darkness, she felt no movement in the room. She didn't hear his breathing, she didn't feel his touch. Her hands searched for him desperately, but whenever they went, they could not find the Praetorian. With tears in her eyes she left the darkness and went to bed. In her sleep, she would forget everything.

Every night she was crying again. The loneliness had never been this great, not even in the first weeks of her stay here in the castle. Now the Praetorian refused to speak to her, she had no one. She was completely alone. She wanted to be comforted, but no one could. No one could whisper her words of encouragement, no one could touch her tenderly, no one could hold her while she was crying. A world without comfort is an empty world. A lonely world. It was maddening her, it made her feel more miserable than she has ever been.

There was one bulb of light in the darkness though. She wandered the castle from time to time, looking at the art that reminded her of Earth, her home. She could spend hours just sauntering the great halls, paying attention to every detail of every piece of art. One day she was looking at the tympanum of the great hall, when she heard footsteps behind her.

When she turned around she saw a young man walking in her direction. He was hardly older than her. One, maybe two years. He wore attire that made the suggestion that wherever he came from, he was a wealthy man. As he approached her she looked into his eyes. Dark, intense, hard.

He stopped before he walked past her and made a small tribute to her as he lowered his head and his eyes out of respect. Then he met her eyes again, very briefly, and he walked away with the flair and bearing of a nobleman.

She smiled a bit at the thought of him as she dried her tears. She had seen him a few times in those weeks. The encounters were very brief and always the same. He made a tribute to her, stared into her eyes and walked away as if nothing happened. His eyes were never friendly, never warm, never reassuring. They were hard every time she saw him.

This was the only person who gave her notion she liked. This was the only person she looked forward to see every day. She'd wander the Great Hall far more often now that she knew he made his way through there. Why he came to the palace, what his function was, she did not know. She only knew that whenever she saw him, her day got just that much better.

She sighed and hoped she would see him soon.

As she entered the Great Hall and made her way through the castle, she didn't notice she was being watched by two persons. She didn't notice that a beautiful woman was following her with her eyes, contemplating over Videl's situation. And she didn't notice the Saiyan guard Halden was behind her at a safe distance.

* * *


	10. Maximitas Reginae

A/N: I have revised and improved the previous chapters. I might have added or changed a line here or there but everything is still mostly the same. Now I hope to continue this, with frequent updates.

* * *

Chapter 9

Maximitas Reginae

She had seen her wandering through the halls of the castle frequently enough. She was beautiful. And young. Too young to serve as a prisoner of war in Vegeta's castle. She followed her with her eyes. Her face was nearly invisible for her, even though the veil that covered her was transparent. Something in her attitude suggested that she was feeling dark emotions. And who could blame her for that? She knew what was going through the young girl. After all, wasn't she in the same position nearly fourteen years ago? Bulma's eyes narrowed.

She had heard about her from her husband. But she had never actually met or spoken to her. She was infinitely curious about her though. Another human being in the castle. What an interesting event. You can't deny feeling bonded with a fellow Earthling. Especially when that Earthling is a woman.

When she first heard of it she was surprised. Why did her husband need another human? He had her, didn't he? But she misunderstood. The other human wasn't there for him. She was a prisoner of war. One of Vegeta's captives, not his mistress.

"She fought in the army along side of thousands of men." He had said.

"She fought in the army?" She asked astonished. "Well, well. Much has changed since I left Earth."

Vegeta grunted. "She joined the army in utmost secrecy."

"Oh. In secret." She said. "That must be a very brave woman."

"Girl. She's a girl." Vegeta corrected.

"Are you serious?" She countered. "How old is she?"

He shrugged. "Sixteen? Seventeen? A teenage girl."

She looked at him perplexed. "But that's dangerous! Who is the girl?"

Vegeta didn't reply right away. He looked at his glass of red wine and seemed to contemplate over something.

"Vegeta," She repeated as she leaned towards him. "Who is she?"

The King sighed. "She's the daughter of Satan."

There was a long silence between the King and his wife. Vegeta didn't know where to look as his wife watched him with a mixture of shock, anger and revulsion.

"You captured Videl Satan?" She asked slowly. Vegeta could only nod. She shook her head in disbelief and rose from her chair. She walked to and fro through the room with her hands in her hair.

"Bulma, it is perfectly safe." The King muttered.

"Perfectly safe?!" She hissed angrily. "Do you even realize what you have done? You captured Hercule Satan's only child. Did it even cross your mind for one second that you made Trunks a target now. That next time they will come for him?"

"You are being an idiot." Vegeta muttered.

"I am being an idiot?!" Bulma yelled. "He's our child Vegeta! And he's in danger if you keep that girl here! There will be repercussions for this! Or do you think that they will just accept that the daughter of Earth is captured by you, their archenemy?"

"I have taken some extreme measures. Trunks will be guarded 24/7. He's completely safe." Vegeta explained, trying to calm his wife.

"I don't want him to be guarded! I want him to go anywhere he wants to without the threat of being captured above his head. I want him to grow up as a normal child, not a child who has to live under constant surveillance!"

Vegeta ran a hand through his hair. "What would you have me do then?"

Bulma stared at her husband. "I want you to release that girl and send her back to Earth immediately."

The King shook his head. "That is ridiculous. Releasing her is not an option. Understand, Bulma. This is the King's only heir. She is the key to winning this war."

"I think you're only throwing oil on the fire." Bulma said furiously. "How can you possibly believe that by capturing her you can win the war? The only consequence of your actions is that there will be more battles, more soldiers, more deaths!"

"Satan will do anything for his daughter. He will concede my wishes. He has to, or otherwise he won't get to see his daughter ever again." Vegeta explained.

"What wishes will he have to concede?" Bulma questioned suspiciously.

"Most important wish is that Earth surrenders and pays for all the expenses of the war."

"Like he's going to do that!" The queen yelled. "Do you know about how much gold you're talking?"

"He'll pay." Vegeta stated simply. "Or he won't see his daughter back."

Bulma shook her head and walked to the window. She stared at the dark night, knowing that her life and that of her son had grown darker now that these new events had occurred. Vegeta walked towards her and put his hands on the shoulders of his wife.

"Bulma, this is war." He stated. "And in war, one must do anything to achieve victory. For the people. For the Kingdom. For the glory."

"Including sacrificing your child." Bulma muttered softly.

"He will do anything to get his daughter back." Vegeta said.

Bulma's eyes narrowed to splits. "I wasn't talking about Satan."

The King looked at his wife and the cold expression on her face. He chose to ignore her remark.

"The war will end soon." He continued. "And nothing will happen to our son, I am going to make sure the best men are there to protect him."

"I want Praetorians to protect him." Bulma insisted stubbornly.

"I will make sure of it." He said.

"I want Gohan to be one of them."

Vegeta pulled away from his wife and turned his back to her. "I will put my best men on it, but not Gohan." He muttered softly.

"Why not?" The Queen demanded immediately, her anger flaring.

"I've put Gohan on something else. He can't protect both Trunks and…"

Bulma waited for him to finish. "And who?" She asked when he didn't.

Vegeta sighed. "The girl."

"The girl?" Bulma hissed. "Why? Why Gohan? Let someone else do it. I want Gohan to protect my Trunks."

"That won't work. Gohan is going to guard the girl." The King decided.

"But why? Isn't our son your main concern?"

"My main concern is winning the war."

Bulma stared at her husband in disbelief. His harsh words hurt her personally. Their blood was less important to him than an endless war.

"So this is what you choose?" She said softly. "This is where your priorities lie?"

Vegeta shook his head. "After all these years that you've lived here with me you still don't understand."

"Understand what?"

"Bulma, I am a son of the Kings of Vegeta. I descend from a mighty bloodline. My place in this world has been determined before I was born. I am King. Lord and ruler of this land. That is my duty. The task that has been given to me by the Gods. I owe it to them, to my ancestors and to my people to fulfil my task. It's not a choice, it is what has to be done. And if sacrifices must be made along the way, so be it."

They stared at each other for a while. They were both too stubborn to look away. For a human and a Saiyan, they were awfully much alike.

"I see." Bulma muttered eventually. "I must have been blind indeed for thinking you had one drop of humanity in your blood."

"I am a Saiyan, woman."

"Oh, you know what I mean."

Vegeta sniffed. Bulma looked at him contemptuously.

"I've had enough of you for tonight." He said as he rose from his chair and walked to the door that let to a different chamber. Her fire-spitting eyes watched him walk away from her. She had urges to jump at him and strangle him, an urge she didn't feel for the first time.

"Good luck passing down the throne without an heir!" She yelled after him. He ignored her words and walked into the other chamber, his hard eyes crossing hers for a second as he closed the door behind him. They didn't speak for days after that.

And now the reason of her concern was walking right there. She probably didn't know in how much danger she was putting her son. After all, when you take another person's blood, you might end up losing your own. This has become a question of honour revenge. Her Trunks might end up being killed just because her husband was too stubborn and too proud to understand the consequences of his actions.

As the young princess of Earth strode through the great halls of the palace, Bulma followed her with her narrowed eyes. It was time to take matters into her own hands. It was time for action, although she knew it would get her in grave danger if she was caught. But then, better her than her son. She was encouraged by the protective power only a mother can possess.

All of a sudden, the young woman stopped in her movements. Bulma curiously cocked her eyebrows and watched as the girl turned around and looked her straight in the face. The Queen didn't know how the girl knew she was being watched but she made no attempt to get out of her sight or to retreat into the shadows behind her. Instead Bulma was looking at her boldly and unflinchingly. The girl, who grew nervous under the older woman's intense stare, didn't know what to do. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it almost immediately as words died in her throat.

The two women stared at each other for a while, before Bulma turned around and stepped out of Videl's sight. With the dignity of a Queen she walked into the many shadows the palace offered, leaving Videl to wonder who that mysterious, yet beautiful woman was with the statue so unlike a Saiyan. As Bulma made her way to her quarters of the palace, her brains were working on a plan. A plan that might cost her life.

A plan to free Princess Videl Satan.

And she knew exactly who could help her.

* * *


	11. Filius Princeps

A/N: I wish everyone a happy new year.

* * *

Chapter Ten:

Filius Princeps

The next few weeks she wandered outside the palace far more often, despite the weather getting colder and colder the more winter approached. She had seen snow for the first time in her life when she woke up one morning. On Earth, the climatic circumstances of her hometown didn't allow snow, not even during the winter. This was the first time she touched the cold, white mass with her fingers, the first time she let it melt on her skin. She was fascinated by it. The gray world of Vegeta seemed a little brighter now with a white veil of snow covering it.

With the innocence only a child could have she dressed into something warm and after breakfast she went straight to the palace gardens. She walked through the new world and marvelled at how different everything looked. She let herself fall into the soft snow and felt the tiny icicles in her neck and face. She smiled. And laughed like a child. She hadn't laughed like a child since she left the castle of her father.

As her laughing faded and she lay her head onto to soft pillow of snow she thought about that last time she really felt like a child. It was only in the protected environment of the castle on Earth that she had felt like one. Outside the castle doors, everything changed. A difference from day and night. Somewhere between leaving the castle doors and ending up in this dreadful place she had become an adult. The happy feelings she used to have, like there was no care in the world, were replace by dark emotions of despair and fear. And most of all loneliness. How much she had changed since she left her father. She figured he wouldn't recognise her when she returned.

If she ever returned..

She released a deep sigh and looked at the grayishly-white sky.

All of a sudden, she heard a plop next to her. With a startle she sat up immediately and looked to her side. There was a squashed snowball on the ground. It had obviously been thrown to… her?

Videl looked around but saw no one who could have thrown the snowball. She raised herself from the ground now and observed her environment like a prey looking for her hunter.

"Who's there?" Videl asked with raised voice as she still saw no one.

There came no reaction.

The young princess became nervous as she found herself being watched by someone she couldn't see. All of a sudden there was a sound of cracking snow, in which she could identify the sound of footsteps closing in. Despite herself Videl panicked.

"Hello?" She said hesitantly.

There was silence now. She couldn't hear the footsteps in the snow anymore. Videl swallowed deeply. The fear in her stomach was rising. She wanted to make a run for it, but her legs felt like lead.

Suddenly, she felt a slap of something cold against her head. She was hit by a snowball.

"Hahaha, I've got you, I've got you!" A child's voice then laughed as Videl turned around to see who was laughing.

She saw an adorable boy, no older than seven or eight, standing right next to a tree a few feet behind her. The boy had lavender hair and a slightly large head in comparison to his body, and big light eyes that looked at her mockingly. He was wearing a dark blue robe, under which he had a long, turquoise tunic that came to his ankles and a brown belt.

As she saw it was only a child and not the full-grown Saiyan assassin, large Vegetian monster or anything creepy she had expected, Videl's brows knitted together and she crossed her arms.

"So you're the one who's throwing snowballs at me." She said sternly. The boy never stopped grinning.

"You didn't even sense me." He said in an melodious tone, half-annoying, half-endearing.

"Maybe you shouldn't sneak up to people like that. You really gave me a scare."

The boy stopped grinning and looked at her with his big, light eyes. He examined her from tip to toe, before his gaze crossed hers again, one eyebrow cocked in puzzle.

"But you're old." He stated, as though he was talking to his mother.

Videl opened her mouth in shock. She was insulted. "Excuse me, I am not old."

The boy shrugged. "Well, older than _me_. Pray, how old are you actually?" As he asked this he came closer to her until he wasn't a foot away from her, looking at her with curious eyes.

Videl looked at him surprised and was quite honestly a bit enchanted by his beautiful light blue eyes, as she now saw them more closely. "I'm seventeen. How old are you?"

"I'm eight." The boy said proudly. "But hang on. If you're seventeen, how could you get scared?"

She stared at the boy. "What do you mean?" She questioned.

"Big people never get scared." He said, obviously certain that this was the truth.

"Well, I get scared sometimes." Videl replied. "Who told you big people never get scared?"

"My father." He said, suddenly grinning. Videl smiled, despite herself.

"Your father is wrong though. Even big people get scared. I bet your father is scared himself sometimes." She explained, catching herself as she sounded slightly motherly.

The boy's brows knitted together and he pouted his lips. It was cute. "My father is never scared." He said defiantly. "He's King. And Kings are super brave."

Videl's heart froze as he heard what the boy said. King? The King? As in that insufferable, cruel, despisingly loathsome prick of a Saiyan?

"Who's your father then?" She asked with growing interest in the young boy, although already knowing the answer to her question..

"Who is my father?" The boy replied, suppressing a laughter. "My father is King Vegeta, of course."

Videl stared stupidly at the young boy. She didn't know the King had a son. She couldn't really imagine him being a father either. And here she was talking to his child, a precious child as well. It somehow felt strange to be chatting with the child of someone she loathed for the rest of eternity. But then, she should have known. Which children other than the King's live at court. And now that he was closer and she could watch him better, wasn't that belt a tail? A Saiyan's tail?

"What's your name?" She questioned as she quit her musing, infinitely curious of the boy now.

"My name is Trunks. What's yours?" The boy countered.

"I'm Videl."

Now it was Trunks' turn to look at her with amazement. "You're _the_ Videl? Of Earth?" He asked as he stood on his toes to move his face closer to hers to watch her.

"Er – Yes, I suppose so." Videl replied as he brought his hands to her face and touched it. They shared an endearing moment together as he discovered her face with his small hands and looked at her with awe.

"You are just as soft as mum." He muttered, his little fingers tingling her skin, before he released her and sat down in the snow before her, always watching her with his big eyes. Videl sat down next to him.

"Your mum? What do you mean?" Videl asked puzzled, still a little warm from the touches of the young boy.

"Mum's also an Earthling . She feels soft, just like you." Trunks replied with a smile on his lips.

Videl smiled as well, but was slightly amazed by what she was hearing. "Your mother is an Earthling? But your father is a Saiyan."

"So?" The boy shrugged, as if this was not at all strange or peculiar.

Videl gawped at the boy. She almost opened her mouth to say 'But your mother's an Earthling and your father's a Saiyan', repeating herself stupidly, but fortunately she swallowed her words just in time. She wondered. She didn't even know Saiyans and Earthlings could have children together. But one look at the boy was enough to conclude that it was not only possible, but that it also produced beautiful children. Come to think of it now that she looked at him closely, he looked, for the most significant part, human, with his lavender hair and light eyes, but he had something about him that was obviously Saiyan, and she was not only talking about the tail. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, maybe it was the piercing and slightly wicked look in his eyes.

"Hang on…" The boy said after a while, looking at her puzzled. "…If you're the Princess of Earth, why isn't your face covered?"

It was the first time Videl noticed that she wasn't wearing any make-up, nor a veil and that the little prince could see her face.

"Oh no!" Videl cussed as she touched her face with her hands. She must have forgotten to put any make-up on in her enthusiasm to go to the snow. She was incredibly lucky no one but the boy had seen her. After all, just a boy seeing her face didn't matter, did it?

"You wouldn't tell a soul, would you?" She asked Trunks, almost apologetically.

"Of course not." Trunks beamed.

"Thank you. How do you actually know I should be covering my face?" Videl asked curiously.

"Mum told me. She had to do it too when she lived on Earth. She was a very high noblewoman."

"Was she?" The princess replied. It was true. Noblewomen, that included her, covered their faces. It was a custom on Earth. "What's her family name? Perhaps I know her family."

Trunks blinked as if he didn't know what she was talking about. "I don't know. She's Queen Bulma." As if everything was said and done with that.

"Oh. Right" Videl responded simply. But then she gave it more thought. An Earthling as a Queen of Saiyans. She was astounded by it. That woman wasn't a concubine or a mistress that wasn't acknowledged and her son wasn't a child that wasn't recognized, they were full-fletched members of the Royal Family of Vegeta. It was a mystery on itself why an Earthing would have chosen a Saiyan as her husband and why she had been willing to bear his child. On the other hand, wasn't it extremely strange that a Saiyan, and an exceptionally insufferable sort of them, picked a human as his wife? And that the Saiyans accepted an Earthling as a Queen? Of all races?

Videl's head was dazzling with questions. All the social structures she learned on Earth seemed to be absent here. Or maybe not absent, just different. Open to even someone who belonged to the enemy race. On Earth it would never be possible to marry a Saiyan. It'd be high treason. How bizarre.

These thoughts soon disappeared from the mind of the Princess as Trunks showed her around the garden. Together they admired the beautiful winter wonderland and he showed her all the secret places around the palace. Videl found out that there was a small stream of water flowing through the gardens, in the northern part of the gardens were no one came. The water came from underground, from little caves beneath the palace. It was carefully hidden underneath a thick layer of bushes.

"And that's for good reason. It's the sewer." Trunks explained.

They quickly left the smelly place and the young prince led her to the forests.

"I always play here." He said. "The forest is huge. Mum doesn't want me to play here. She's afraid I get lost because I haven't learned how to fly yet. But I secretly go here all the time. It's a pity though I haven't got anyone to play with. I bet you can play great games of hide an seek here. Hey, do you want to play?"

"No, we'd better not. Or we might get lost." Videl answered slowly, not taking her eyes off the forest. She imagined they offered a very safe hiding place, especially because it was so thick and huge. She wondered how far it reached. She asked Trunks, but he didn't know.

"I never got far. It gets quite dark in there. You can hardly see a thing after a while." He explained.

Videl found this very interesting. But just as she wanted to ask more about the forest, she heard a voice behind her.

"Trunks, what are you doing there?" The Princess of Earth and the young Prince of Vegeta both turned around and looked upon a woman. The woman had short blue hair and the fairest skin Videl had ever seen. Her pale blue robes reached to the ground and was outlined by snow white fur. Underneath the robes Videl saw a white dress, with little crystals sewn onto it that sparkled in the faint daylight. The woman's face was beautiful yet stern as she looked from the boy to her.

Trunks dutifully walked towards his mother and looked apologetically towards Videl as he stood next to his mother. The girl was prey to the sharp gaze of the woman, whom she knew was the Queen. She got a little nervous under the stare of the woman.

"I-I was just showing her around." Trunks quickly explained as there was a dreadful silence between them, clearly also a bit scared of his mother.

"Be quiet Trunks, I know what you were doing. You know you're not allowed here." She replied with soft, yet authoritative voice.

"And you…" She barked as she directed herself to Videl again. "…come here."

Her tone was so strict and demanding that Videl didn't dare to object her. She swiftly walked towards the woman and shyly stopped in front of her. She hated that she was this obedient.

The Queen gave her a thorough examination with her beautiful eyes – the same as her son's as Videl saw them more closely now – and sighed.

"Come inside with me. You're being watched." She spoke.

"Watched? By whom?"

"Guards. They've been watching you all these times because you're with my son."

Videl didn't understand. She looked at the woman puzzled. "But where are they?"

The Queen looked at her significantly. "Everywhere. Now come along, you."

* * *


	12. Dolus Matris

A/N: Finally I have the feeling I'm getting somewhere with this story.

_

* * *

_

Chapter Eleven:

Dolus Matris

The Queen was applying make-up on Videl's face speechlessly. She had mixed a white substance – which Videl soon found out to be rice powder – with water to a thick paste she was now applying with a soft brush. Videl stole an occasional glance at the woman, who was fixing all her attention on applying the make-up.

"There." She spoke when she was done. "At least you can walk the palace now like a true Princess of Earth."

Videl looked in the hand mirror the Queen had given to her. Her face was brilliantly white, much whiter than her lead-based make-up could make it.

"Why aren't you wearing any?" Videl asked with difficulty as the older woman started to brush a suspiciously red colour on her lips.

"I always thought it was nonsense. And what's the use for it here, when no Earthling can see anyway whether you're keeping up these silly traditions or not?"

Videl shrugged. "But they're Earth traditions."

"So?" The Queen countered sharply. "Do you think you miss Earth less when you keep acting like an Earthling?"

Videl was taken aback by the harsh words of the Queen. Apparently the woman also thought they might sound harsher than she intended. She sat down next to Videl and looked at her significantly.

"I know how you feel." She started earnestly. "I really do. I've been in the same position as you are right now."

The young girl looked at the older woman confused. "What do you mean?"

"I came here fourteen years ago on behalf of my family. I was young, only a little older than you, but I was appointed to continue the family business."

"Family business?" Videl interrupted.

The Queen nodded. "I'm of the Briefs family."

"What?! Of Briefs' Capsule Corporation?" Videl almost yelled. Trunks, who was meditating at the other side of the room, opened on eye, disturbed from his trainings.

"Yes, I'm Bulma Briefs." The Queen replied, a little amused by the girl's surprised reaction.

Videl looked at her amazed and perplexed. "But you were…"

"Missing?" The Queen finished. "No, I've been here all this time. Fourteen years."

"But how? How come no one knew? I-I heard your spacecraft went missing in space."

Bulma chucked dryly. "I'm sure they told you that. But as I said, I came here on my family's behalf. There was a problem with the deliverance of some very advanced weapons…"

"Wait, what? Your family traded with the Saiyans?" Videl said almost indignantly. "But twelve years ago they were at war with Earth! Capsule Corporation has been delivering weapons for Earth for decades. "

"I know, and I understand it must seem like betrayal for you when an Earth company provides the enemy with weapons. But you must understand, trade is purely commercial. It refrains from politics. We just did what made the most profit. And two clients are more profitable than one."

As the Queen defended Capsule Corps. Videl couldn't believe the number one provider of Earth's weapons also traded with the enemy. It even got her a little mad. Bulma saw this and looked at her almost apologetically.

"If I can speak for my family, I wish we'd never done it though. Saiyans can't be trusted. And they've proven that. When I came here they immediately kept me hostage. Vegeta's father, who was King then, demanded that the company stopped providing weapons for Earth and the King be our only client. If Capsule Corps refused, I'd never return to Earth again."

"And they refused." Videl said incredulously. "I mean, you wouldn't be here if they hadn't."

Bulma's lips crooked in a hardly noticeable smile. "The story didn't go as planned. At first, the company made an agreement with the King of course. And, true to his word, the King released me. I was released immediately and returned to Earth."

"I don't understand." The younger girl said confused. "If you were released, how could you still be here? And why is Capsule Corporation still Earth's provider for weapons if it made an agreement with the King of the Saiyans?"

"No one intended that there would be love in the game." Bulma replied vaguely and with slightly gleaming eyes.

Videl opened her mouth, but closed it again when she couldn't say anything. Now she was really lost. The Queen laughed at her expression.

"I never intended to fall in love with the Prince of the Saiyans. The man who is now King Vegeta."

Suddenly Videl knew where this story was going. Love…

"Love makes a woman do silly things." The Queen mused. "When I was captured, Vegeta was head of the Royal Guards. During my captivity he served as my Praetorian."

Bulma eyed the young Princess of Earth and saw her swallow. She continued as she watched the girl's every reaction.

"He was with me every night, preventing me from escaping. I was furious that I was kept as a prisoner, but the longer my captivity lasted, the more attached I grew to the stranger in the darkness. And I felt attracted to him, even though I couldn't see him. He was the only friend I had. He comforted me when I was lonely and talked to me while no one would. He made my stay somewhat bearable. But then I was released after a couple of months. I returned to Earth, but in contrast to my expectations I wasn't happy with my freedom. In fact, I felt miserable. Horrible without my Praetorian. I missed him and realized I wanted to go back to him. And I did. I broke the agreement with the then-King of the Saiyans so the company could keep its trading contracts with Earth and took the first spacecraft to go to the planet that formerly served as my prison. I've been here ever since."

"You went back here for someone you never even seen?" Videl asked doubtfully.

"Well… I did see him once." Bulma explained as her eyes betrayed she was thinking of a fond memory. "On the night before I returned to Earth, he came to me. It was the first and last time we would see each other and he was sweet and tender. I think you can guess what happened."

Videl blushed a little as she could definitely make that guess. "I can't imagine him being sweet and tender though."

Bulma laughed. "Of course not, he's an obstinate man. And they all are. But as obstinate and conceited Saiyan men can be, their love is absolute. And that makes them great companions."

Videl felt a bit uncomfortable as the Queen gave her a piercing gaze. She already felt uncomfortable because of her story. It was a strange yet familiar one. Bulma also had a Praetorian and she had also grown attached to him. Like herself, even though she didn't want to admit to it.

All of a sudden Videl thought of the kiss the Praetorian gave to her a while ago. And the tenderness of his touch. And the excitement she felt whenever he invited her into the darkness with his velvet voice. It made her shiver at once, but nauseous at the same time. She didn't want to think of her and the Praetorian as lovers. Even though there was, or at least had been, attraction between them, it was dangerous attraction. Attraction that she feared yet liked nonetheless.

When she looked at the Queen again, she met curious eyes.

"How's your Praetorian treating you?" She asked, and Videl couldn't miss there was a suggestion in her question.

"He's… He's a good friend." She replied, deciding not to tell that he had been ignoring her the past few weeks.

"Yes." Bulma agreed. "He is a nice young man."

Now it was Videl's turn to be curious. She didn't care the Queen was waiting for her to ask more about the Praetorian, which she made clear by her long, expecting silence. She wanted to know more about him and the Queen might just provide her with some information.

"Do you know him?" She asked as casually as she could sound. Bulma smiled.

"I've known him since he was a child. I'm good friends with his mother."

Videl nodded and tried to act nonchalantly. "How old is he actually then?"

"He's a young man." Bulma said. It was clear she wasn't going to reveal crucial information.

"Oh. I expected him to be older than a young man." Videl continued.

"Well, I suppose he is quite mature for his age. Perhaps that's because he's been through so much."

The sparked Videl's attention even more. She was at the edge of her seat, dying to hear more. "How's that?"

"Your Praetorian is a real warrior. He's seen wars and battlefields at a startlingly young age, before he was appointed head of the Royal Guards. He's very experienced and capable and he had many victories and successes, but I can imagine it made him mature faster than should be allowed. It's quite sad actually that he couldn't enjoy his youth. He never had a youth. He was always training and fighting and struggling to survive, even when he was as young as my son now. He was enemy to the most dreadful beings and powerful opponents. A horrible life for a child if you ask me. Exactly the life I didn't want for my Trunks."

The Queen looked at the child at the other side of the room. He was still meditating as if he never caught a single word of their conversation.

Videl was silent. She didn't know what to say after Queen Bulma told her about the childhood, or absence of, of the Praetorian. She never asked him about his childhood, or about his past that is, and now that she heard about it she felt a bit upset for him. It was tragic.

"He turned out alright though." Bulma said in a sigh. "He's a lovely young man. Kind. Loyal. Polite. Trustworthy. More than you can say of certain Saiyans twice his importance. And not to forget, he's quite handsome."

Videl instantly got shy. It was a question she asked herself more than she wanted to admit, but she couldn't help being curious about it; how did her Praetorian look like? And now, the Queen called him quite handsome. She did her best not to react stupidly, but something fluttered inside.

Bulma noticed and had Videl looked at her, she would see the slightly self-satisfied expression on her face.

"Oh well. I'm glad he's nice to you." She remarked as a conclusion, as if she had said enough. She took a sip from her tea and Videl knew the topic was closed now. Somehow she was disappointed by that. She wanted to know more. She had more questions. She needed to know more about him. But she also knew that if she asked further, it wouldn't appear casual conversation anymore. Rather directed conversation, and she didn't want to give the impression that she was more interested in the Praetorian than would be appropriate. And thus, even though she was dying to hear more, she kept shut and drank her tea.

After a while Bulma spoke again. "I'm terribly sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave soon. I have a great deal to do today."

Videl nodded silently.

When there was only silence, Bulma continued. "There's an appointment here, and appointment there, I have to speak to some important people, have to make early preparations for the ball…"

"The ball?" Videl questioned as she frowned.

The Queen looked at her. "Yes, the winter ball the King and I are holding every Christmas evening. The only Earthly ritual I was able to impose in this place. It's going to be quite an event. Lots of people, important people. And there's dancing and food and wine. A splendid evening."

Videl looked at her enviously but pretended to be indifferent. She hadn't given Christmas a thought yet, though it was in a few weeks already. She hated the thought of being alone at Christmas and not being able to celebrate the evening. But as the young girl unsuccessfully tried to hide her disappointment, Bulma knew this was the moment.

"You are hereby cordially invited, Videl. After all, you're an important guest. I'd love it if you would come."

The younger girl looked at the ground and got shy again, not wanting to sound too eager. "I don't want to be invited because you are sorry for me or something."

"I know. But I don't. I would like it very much if you came to the ball. And Trunks would too."

Videl smiled, but still a bit uncomfortable.

Bulma looked at her half-sternly, half-humorously. "If you don't show up, I will be insulted."

The young girl laughed and nodded, feeling quite thankful for the invitation. Not much later she left the Queen's quarters, after assuring her she would knock on her door every once in a while for a cup of tea and a chat. Feeling lighter than she had in a long time, Videl walked across the long corridors of the palace and enjoyed the sight of the winterwonderland the windows gave.

When she returned to her room that evening, after dinner, she instinctively turned her head to the darkness. She knew he was there, in the dark shadows of her room. She couldn't help but feeling a slight flutter in her stomach after all the things Bulma had said that afternoon. One thing was for sure…

She certainly watched him with different eyes now.

* * *


	13. Raptus Virgini

* * *

Chapter twelve

Raptus Virgini

"_Twig, why are you still up?"_

_Startled Videl tore her gaze away from the starry sky and looked into the eyes of her captain Marius. His voice wasn't demanding. It was soft and kind. Nor was his expression stern as it usually was, but warm though still questioning. Videl smiled shyly, although he couldn't see it through the kerchief she was covering her face with._

"_I couldn't sleep."She spoke quietly, as if not to disturb the peace of the night._

_The captain sat down beside her in the moist grass. "Are you afraid?"_

_Videl shook her head. "Fear is not the right word. Just… restless."_

"_Is it because of the battle tomorrow?"_

_She looked at Marius as she pondered whether she should tell the truth or not. Marius was waiting patiently for her to respond. His eyes were friendly, reassuring._

_She and the captain had grown close in the past few months. Many battles had been fought, many companions were lost to them. There was hardship, there was pain, there was grief and it was always shared. It created some sort of bond, the most special anyone could ever come across. They saw each other cry at the death of a friend, they saw each other laugh over a triumph. They shared everything, from tears to smiles, from food to enemy. They respected each other, accepted each other and they were loyal to each other. They were brothers, although she was not even a man. And she thought of the saying: war destroys everything. How false that assumption was. It did destroy, but it unquestionably united people more than peace ever could._

_As she looked at the stars she thought of that. But brotherhood didn't give her so much optimism that she believed everything would be alright in the end. On the contrary._

"_It's like something's going to happen tomorrow." She muttered darkly, expressing her disturbing premonition. "It's like everything will go wrong and the plan won't succeed."_

_Marius looked at her confused. "Have you ever felt this before?"_

_She shook her head. "No. That's just it. I've always felt calm at the eve of battle. Ready to accept my death, if it must take me. Never have I felt such an unsettling feeling for the day to come. What does it mean?"_

"_It could mean nothing." Marius assured. "The plan is risky and at this point you must trust other people for it to succeed. Maybe that's it. In every battle, you are in control of your own destiny. But now you are forced to place fate in the hands of others. It gives you a restless, powerless feeling, to know that everything, including your live, hangs and falls with the plan."_

_I shook my head. "No, that's not it. I trust the others. I believe they will succeed. But there's just something I can't put my finger on. It's in the water I drink, the air I breathe. Even in the eyes of the animals I hunt."_

"_What do you mean?" _

"_I mean a dark force. It lingers everywhere. Something's going to happen tomorrow, I can feel it."_

_The captain watched her with doubtful eyes. They both knew how crazy she sounded, but Videl could not ignore her feelings. All day she watched animals flee for something she could not see. She heard the silence in the wind. She felt the threat in the air. She didn't understand it, but knew – somehow – that there was danger._

_The captain rose from the ground. "You should get some sleep, it's going to be a long day tomorrow and you need your rest. And about that dark force…" _

_He looked at Videl with an unreadable expression. Videl shivered under his eyes._

"…_don't tell the men about it. It may be upsetting for some and it's best for them not to know anything of a bad omen or something of that kind. We'll see what happens tomorrow, if anything happens at all."_

_And with that, he turned around and strode to his tent, distracted and plagued by worry. _

_

* * *

_

Videl woke up from her dream in the middle of the night. The moon was covered in clouds, revealing only faint light that barely lit up the room. Cold sweat on her forehead, Videl pushed her sheets asside and threw her veil on the cold floor. She breathed the winter air to calm down and thought of her dream.

It had happaned the night before she was captured by the Saiyans, the darkest page in her history. The plan was to attack a small division of Saiyan warriors on two fronts. Her own division had split up, one half traveling across the shoreline to attack the Saiyans, the other half staying behind and waiting for the enemy to strike. It was a risky plan as time was of the essence. Attacking them too soon and the other half of the division might not be ready yet, attacking them too late and the Saiyans could have found out about the plan. And the costs were high if they lost. The entire western continent would fall into enemy hands.

Eventually it wasn't the plan that failed, or even the entire attack. It was very successful, until disaster struck. There was a flood. The biggest flood in centuries. The water reached to five miles landinwards, setting everything under water and destroying everything on its path. Videl's division was wiped from the face of the Earth, with only few survivors, including her. Only because of the ability to fly could the Saiyans use disaster to their advantage. They became the victors of that fateful battle, but it was not a victory over their human enemies. After all, the forces of nature had unmistakably triumphed that day.

Videl rose from her bed and walked over to the large window. Her white nightgown was swishing between her legs, almost as if it danced with the wind as she watched the dark night through the glass of the window. She thought about the horrible battle. About the faces of her brothers as they were fighting and eventually losing from the power of the water. She thought of waking up a few hours later, chained in a dark room with two smirking Saiyans in front of her. But she was thinking most of an image that was etched in her memory forever.

It was the sight of Marius, trying to save their companions and lead them to safe ground, until even he could not master the waves of water anymore. He fought heroically but even he had to recognise his superior in the forces of nature. He drowned, a death far less honourable than he deserved.

He was more than a friend, even more than family. He was everything between a friend and family and nothing less than either or them. The truest friend, the closest thing to a brother. It was the most mature, unconditional relationship she had ever had.

And she cried. Not only because of losing him, but also because of the lies she told, the truth she never revealed. The truth, that she wasn't the short, scrawny boy called Twiggy, but the very Princess he had sworn to protect when he took his oath. He deserved the truth, but he would never know.

He would never know.

The very thought made her sick with guilt. She loathed herself. She hated herself. She cried silently in the night.

In the corner of the room, someone was watching. Someone's heart was breaking at the sight of the brokenhearted girl. Someone was fighting himself, wanting to soothe the pain he didn't know or understand, and realising that if he did he would undo everything he's been done in the last weeks to detach himself from the girl he longed for now so badly. He wanted to hear her story, to know why she cried, to kiss her tears away. But with great pain, he remained in the darkness, watching her as his own heart was crying with her.

* * *

She was in one of the numerous halls of the castle, absently admiring the different sculptures and not really seeing them as well as she should have.

Her head hurt. Like it could only hurt after emotionally very heavy times. The last night was such an emotionally heavy time. Every sad human emotion had went through her being. Grief, guilt, regret, shame, bitterness, despair. She guessed it wasn't just this night, this dream that had made her burst to tears so easily. It was all the dreams, all the nights. Every emotion had a deeper ground and with every tear she shed she stripped off the layers of hardness until she was nothing more than this desolate wreck, wanting so badly to be soothed but on the other hand to be alone in her misery. Because she realised it was not just misery others caused her, but primarily misery she caused herself. She felt ashamed of herself, and wanted no one else to see her shame.

But she knew _he_ had been there. The Praetorian. Like he was there every night that she was struggling with her feelings. She wondered what he thought of her now, after having seen her in all her heartache. Would he think she was a pathetic child? Depressed and crazy as well?

Something told her that he wouldn't. That he didn't. It was strange, but him being in the darkness of her room, although she could not see him, although she could not hear him, felt… right. More important than seeing or hearing him was that she felt him, she felt his presence. And something in his presence was soothing. Unprejudiced and unquestioning, he let her be. Although she would have liked it to be hold in his strong, warm arms, it was enough and more than she could ask for in this moment of distant attitudes and cold shoulders.

"Hello Ivory Lady." A low voice behind her said. Videl tore her eyes from the sculpture she was watching and turned around. A cold shiver crept through her spine as she recognised the owner of the voice.

Behind a pillar Halden the horse killer appeared, smirking smugly at her. Immediately Videl was in a state of alarm and unconsciously she took a step back. His smirk only widened at her reaction.

"You've been staring at that rock for a very long time." He remarked as he never tore his dark eyes away from her. Videl swallowed while he stepped closer to her.

"But then, it is a beautiful rock. I'm always amazed at what humans can do with such inferior tools. With practically nothing you can make stone humans. And the resemblance is startling. They're one step away from actually moving."

He bared his uneven teeth in a hideous smile. Genuine fear took over Videl's body. He was not more than a foot away from her now. She could smell the sweat and dirt on his skin.

"What's it called, pumpkin?" He asked, mocking.

She opened her mouth but nothing came out of it. She lost her voice at the sight of his hard muscles. He was much stronger than her. She wouldn't even compete. And so much faster. There was no chance of escaping. He knew it too. He was revelling in her fear, a fear that was so evident in her whole being that no one could have missed it.

When she didn't reply he laughed haughtily. "Guess I should see for myself then. Let's see here, ehhh…" He walked over to the sculpture and looked at the small golden strip that was pinned to the socle. "_Laocoön_ _and His Sons_. Ahh. It must be famous, or it wouldn't been robbed from Earth."

She didn't respond. She thought of ways to escape but her mind was blank. Completely blank. Her lower lip trembled and although she was veiled, at was as if he could still see it. He approached her and to her greatest fear she saw raw lust in his hungry eyes. She couldn't move.

He gently removed the veil from her face. She stood there, frozen as he watched her face and touched it with his fingers.

"So beautiful. So… magnificent." He whispered, almost enchanted. He smelled her neck and her collarbone. His long, deep black hair itched her skin. His smell filled her nostrils in a way she wasn't sure she was going to forget.

"Look at the rock. Look at their faces." He demanded. Trembling she looked at the sculpture and the faces of the man and his two sons. They had expressions of excruciating pain. Of dreadful horror. Of terrible fear.

He brought his mouth to her ear. His fast breathing tickled it. "Have you ever been that afraid, Princess? Because that is nothing compared to what you're about to experience."

He released a guttural growl. Her stomach turned. She wanted to throw up. She wanted to cry. She wanted to fight him off. But nothing happened. As he wrapped his strong arms around her in a suffocating embrace, she stood there. Paralysed. Limp. Thinking this wasn't happening. Praying this wasn't happening. Watching everything as if she was not even in her body. She threw her head back and wanted to scream, but every sound was stuck in her throat. His hands felt her body through the thin fabric of her dress. She felt something tear. This was the end for her. This was it.

It happened so fast she didn't even see it. All of a sudden, his embrace loosened. Halden stopped groping her. His eyes were wide with pain and his voice was caught in his throat. He fell to his knees, holding on to her legs for support, until a large hand grabbed him by his neck. Halden released a scream of pain until he let go of her legs. He collapsed onto the ground, lifeless. Dead.

Videl trembled as she looked at Halden's expression. It was the same as the sculpture's.

She stood there, completely motionless. Everything had happened in such a blur. She thought she was dreaming. She thought and hoped she would wake up soon. The corpse in front of her couldn't be real.

She was going to faint. She felt herself falling.

She hardly noticed that someone lifted her off the ground and wrapped her in strong arms. She looked at her saviour. Gentle eyes met her. Deep, onyx eyes. A smile was reassuring her that everything was going to be alright. A face, so familiar, so friendly. A warm feeling of security washed over her as he carried her through the halls. She didn't know where he was taking her, she didn't care either, as long as she was with him. She was safe now. She smelled his neck. It was lovely. She would remember his scent, fresh and masculine, forever. She looked at his face and sighed. Strong arms wrapped themselves tighter around her. His face, gloriously handsome, was mere inches from hers. She smiled and closed her eyes. It was him. And he saved her, like he would always save her.

She passed out, but before she did she moaned his name. Clearly. Affectionately.

_Praetorian_

* * *


End file.
